Witchcraft In Her Lips
by Calla Mae
Summary: After the death of her father Lane Vivian, a Greendale witch, is forced to seek refuge within the Southside Serpents. With the help of a few new friends she tries to uncover what evil is after her, and in doing so she discovers the evil lurking within her.
1. Chapter 1

_This is an idea I had of a witch in Riverdale (with a possible Sabrina crossover later). It starts a couple months before season 2, so before Jughead is forced to transfer to southside high. The pairing will be Fangs/OC/Sweet Pea, however it will not end with them in a poly relationship - one of them will break off. This is an au of my story Tower Over Me, those of you who haven't read that it's not required - this is it's own story. And you can actually skip the rest of this note._  
 _For those who have read Tower Over Me, you'll notice similarities especially when season 2 starts but I'm gonna try my best to make it overall a different experience. Also, this Lane grew up different so she's at her core different as well. While still being the same prickly cactus inside we all know and love. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope ya'll enjoy._

* * *

It was a dark moonless night, the stars had been emptied from the sky and shadows hung like thick blankets smothering every inch of the quiet town. The kind of quiet only found in a graveyard, like any noise at all would shatter it.

With a gasp Lane woke to a soft voice whispering dark words in her ear. With a twitch of her fingers the light turned on and she looked around her room releasing the breath she'd been holding at finding it empty. A dream, it was just a dream.

Settling back she turned the light off with a voice she'd convinced herself wasn't real still tickling her ear. But she sat up once more at the deep burning glow she now saw beneath her door. Lane threw her door open and the quiet shattered. All at once she could hear the flames crackling as her lungs filled with smoke.

"Dad," she yelled rushing down the hall to his room where the fire seemed to be coming from. The heat was almost unbearable and she squinted trying to see in his burning room. "Dad," she cried again, hearing the shrillness of her own voice that left her sounding like a child.

Flame licked every inch of his scorched room and was only beginning to crawl past the doorframe to ignite the wood around it. But in the place beside her dad's bed Lane saw a dark shadow the shape of a man, and she stepped back feeling a sliver of ice wedge deep in her chest. As though aware she'd noticed it, it turned faceless towards her.

She ran. There was a sick thud against the wall behind her as it threw itself into the hall after her. Her shoulder hit the frame of her doorway from how sharp she turned into her room and she quickly threw the door shut with a whispered plea. A great force struck the wood and Lane stepped back with baited breath seeing the frame hold, for now.

Over and over again it rammed against the door, and Lane moved quickly to her bookshelf snatching the sealed box off it and unlatched the window. The door splintered behind her and she jumped, two stories down. She hit the ground and rolled, not having time for the pain in her ankle as she ran for the car.

Climbing behind the wheel she snapped her fingers starting it, and she was stopped cold by the sight of its long shadow caught in the beams of the headlights. She threw the car in reverse blindly backing out of their long driveway racing for the main road, and with a piercing squeal of the tires she was gone.

She didn't look back until she reached the town line, she crossed into Riverdale and as the light from the moon illuminated her car she glanced at the rearview mirror. Behind her the figure stood as though trapped within the borders of Greendale and she watched it bleed into the night until it was gone. Releasing a breath Lane looked back to the road and reached a hand to the box on the seat beside her, containing an old book and the letter her mother left before she disappeared.

Finding herself suddenly alone in the world Lane reverted back to the likeness of a child, doing what her mother told her. Standing outside of the neon lit bar in a parking lot full of motorcycles wishing she'd grabbed a pair of gloves - Lane took a breath, shifted her hold on the box, and went in.

It wasn't quite midnight but it was Friday and the bar was packed, smoke hung thick in the air along with the heady smell of alcohol. But there was a lull at the sight of the short young woman standing barefoot in a thin white nightgown scouring faces for the one her mother said she would know. Conversations resumed undeterred but several stares followed her, untrusting. Her gaze landed on an aged man with a hard weathered face and long dirty blonde hair, and he seemed to stop breathing when he saw her.

"Amara?" Tall Boy asked softly to the girl standing before him.

"I'm her daughter, Lane," she answered seeing him swallow as he straightened. "Are you Gerald Petite?" she asked and he nodded. "She told me to find you if anything ever happened."

Girl was the spitting image of her mother, except for those shining green eyes. Those were his. "What happened?" he asked knowing it must be big for her to be standing here looking like she just rolled out of bed.

"A fire."

"Where's your father?" he asked.

"He was in it."

Her mother had been the same way, a short monotone answer and a blink of her heavy dark eyes – she'd been alluring. But this girl, Lane, she was hiding something. "Is someone after you?"

"I'm assuming."

He sighed wondering what he was supposed to do with her, if there was anything he could do. But her mother was gone and her father was dead and her standing here meant she had no one else. "Where's the new kid, Fogarty?" he called, turning only to see Fangs step forward before he looked back to Lane. "He's gonna take you to my place, you're gonna sit tight and I'll see what I can do." He waited for her to nod before he turned to Sweet Pea and told him, "take her car to the garage get it out of sight."

He wasn't happy about helping this girl who'd shown up out of thin air, but Sweet Pea nodded and stepped toward her with his hand held out. She blinked up at him expectantly. "Your keys," he said a little rougher than he meant.

Clearing her throat uncomfortably Lane turned to Tall Boy. "I don't have them," she admitted, seeing his eyes harden. "There was a lot going on, I might've panicked a little."

His brow rose irritably. "You drove here without keys?" he hissed under his breath.

"I said a little," Lane told him firmly.

Staring her down he eventually gave in with a weary sigh. "Okay, I'll drive you home." He turned back to Sweet Pea and asked, "you working tomorrow?" At the younger boy's nod he clapped him on the arm and shooed Lane forward, noticing the way she recoiled before he could touch her. "We'll see you at the shop."

Lane walked with him back outside still clutching the box, refusing to let it out of her sight. She climbed in the passenger's side and turned to where he sat behind the wheel waiting. Holding her hand by the ignition she snapped again and the car roared to life. "You don't seem very surprised," Lane said as he drove, seeing the places and houses were all worn down.

"I knew your mother a long time," he replied. Though he hadn't known about Lane, she'd been a surprise and he was still reeling. "So what really happened?" he asked now that it was just them, now that she was aware he knew.

Taking a moment to think about what she'd seen, trying to make sense of it, she eventually decided that it didn't. "Something was in my father's room as it burned. It followed me but I don't think it could cross town line."

He took that in stride, which was the only way to take something like that, and nodded. So she was stuck here until she figured out what was going on, if she even could, and how to fix it, again if she could. Which meant he was stuck with her. "Alright," he told her.

She turned to him curiously. "What?"

Looking from the road to her watchful face he shrugged. "Just, alright."

She nodded realizing he was settling for doing this, for doing it with her. And in that moment, knowing that she at least had someone even if she didn't know him, the world didn't seem so impossibly big. "Alright," she agreed softly.

They didn't say much else that night, there wasn't much to say other than the polite getting to know you's that left them both feeling the kind of déjà vu that came with having met before. The night ended with them on the couch in his trailer watching an old show in black and white, and while Tall Boy snored with his head fallen back Lane reached a timid hand to his trying to get feel for him. Ultimately she decided he was good enough and she turned back to the TV. Unable to close her eyes without seeing the dark figure in her father's burning room.

Daylight couldn't come soon enough, Tall Boy turned to see her blinking heavily and knew she hadn't slept. He drove her to a diner to get coffee and breakfast and then took her to the store to get everything she'd lost in the fire; toiletries, clothes, shoes, and several different pair of gloves. Then he took her back to his trailer so she could shower, and while she was occupied Tall Boy's eyes stuck on the box she'd left on the counter. Curiosity got the better of him and he tried opening it but a sudden heat ignited beneath his skin and he pulled back shaking his hand. Smart girl.

She came out with her hair piled on top of her head in a bun wearing the shirt and jeans he'd bought her. "What now?" she asked because she didn't have a plan. She'd spent several hours last night while he snored going through her mother's book looking for answers and ultimately coming up with nothing. She had a thought of what she needed but her mother had told her never to go to the Church. So she was in the same place today as she'd been last night, which was nowhere.

"I've gotta work, you're coming with me," was his gruff answer. He saw her glance at the box and he realized he was right in guessing what was in there, but she couldn't lug it around forever. Walking over to the couch he lifted a cushion revealing a hidden cubby, and he waited as she reached a decision and grabbed the box off the counter placing it inside. "You're not gonna charm it?" he asked when she stepped back.

Fixing him with a blank stare she promptly informed him, "it's already charmed." And she walked out of his trailer leaving him to shake his head as he followed.

…

Both Fangs and Sweet Pea saw her enter the auto shop with Tall Boy and they both turned watching as he led her to the back office. She wore a pair of black gloves that ended just below her elbow, something about them made her seem both elegant and bitterly cold – untouchable. Sweet Pea was fine going back to his work but at around an hour curiosity got the better of Fangs and he tapped his arm and jerked his head to the back.

With a heavy sigh Sweet Pea tossed his tools back in the box and followed Fangs to where she sat alone behind a computer going through a stack of paperwork. "Hey," Fangs offered in greeting.

She barely acknowledged them as she gave a soft hello, her eyes scanning the paper in hand. "You from the Northside?" Sweet Pea demanded, the more untrusting of the two.

Without looking up from what she was doing she asked, "north side of where?"

"Taking that as a no," Fangs interjected trying for friendly, mostly to counteract that Sweet Pea wasn't nor would he make the effort to be. "Where are you from?"

"Greendale."

She still hadn't looked at them and Fangs was starting to think this might have been a mistake. Pretty or not, and he very much thought she was, she clearly wasn't interested in making friends. "How's your day going?" he asked, his final effort before he'd give up.

Her eyes paused on the line of numbers she'd been adding, losing her place, and she finally looked up the two hovering in the doorway. "Well, someone set my house on fire last night killing my father and I'm pretty sure they're after me too and I have no way of finding out what the hell's going on or how I'm supposed to fix it, so I am now stuck with a man I don't know working on getting this office's reports up to date from last year." She didn't need to say it, she clearly wasn't doing well and it was very obvious now that her eyes were on them how tired she was. But she sighed and offered a small, "how's your day been?"

Fangs wasn't sure what to say to that, hearing her plight had even Sweet Pea's closed off face slackening with surprise. So Fangs shrugged and answered, "pretty good so far."

She blinked at him curiously and came around to the thought that he had a good face, a trustworthy one. And a very small smile quirked on her lips. "I'm Lane," she told him and his taller less open friend.

An easy grin spread on his mouth and he stepped forward offering her his hand. "Fangs." She fit her gloved hand in his, and standing this close her green eyes seemed so much brighter set against her ambiguously ethnic brown skin. "That's Sweet Pea, and no he really doesn't really get much better."

While Sweet Pea scoffed rolling his eyes Lane looked to him with an expression that was almost pleasant. "It's nice to meet you," she told him before turning back to the computer. And she fell once more into guarded silence.

"I'm not paying you to stand there," came a gruff voice from in the garage.

It had both boys turning to leave to get back to work, but Fangs cast a last look at her over his shoulder and met her eyes when she glanced up at him. And he could've sworn she smiled.

…

She kept to herself the remainder of the short weekend, returning to Tall Boy's trailer instead of going with him to the Whyte Wyrm so she could continue searching her mother's book for any idea what was after her, and while he worked on cars she sat huddled in the back office going from actual work to useless internet searches that yielded nothing.

More often than not Tall Boy found Fangs standing just inside the doorway to the office with a wide smile as he got her talking. And less often but still frequent, Sweet Pea was with him.

Which is how Tall Boy found himself in the front office of Southside High filling out the paperwork to enroll her. Lane was almost sulking beside him, leaning against the counter with her cheek in hand watching him fill in her name – Elaine Petite. Claiming her as his.

"Do I have to be a sophomore?" she asked him quietly, glancing at the woman who stood several feet away gathering more paperwork.

He looked down at her out of the corner of his eye. "You should've made more friends than Sweet Pea and Fogarty," he informed her bluntly, having already gone over this was more so the two could keep an eye on her. "Besides, if there is a person attached to the attack it's best not to make it obvious."

He was right, she knew he was, but it didn't make her any happier about having to repeat tenth grade. But what she said was, "we are not friends, I wanted no part of that."

It had him chuckling as he wrote himself as her emergency contact. "I bet," he mused having already understood she actively made it difficult to get to know her.

"Alright, I just need the name of your last school so we can get your records."

Both Tall Boy and Lane turned to the office administrator fixing her with similar heavy stares, and it surprised Lane that they both reached the same decision. Glancing at her desk Tall Boy picked up her mug and handed it to Lane with a brow raised expectantly. The only thing she could get out of him was that he'd known her mother well and for awhile, even when she touched him she couldn't get past his walls – they had that in common,.

Grabbing the mug Lane took a sip and held the lukewarm bitter coffee in her mouth, filling it with intention, and then she spit it back into the cup. "Have a drink," she said holding it out to the woman who now stood locked in place. When she'd done as told Lane said in a serious tone, "use the records from the last student who transferred here, and make up the rest."

They watched the woman turn as though in a daze and begin searching through a filing cabinet with student records. "Impressive," Tall Boy said, seeing she'd inherited her mother's knack for controlling people.

But Lane shrugged and leaned on the counter again. "Not really," she told him honestly. "It's easy when they're weak willed." The two shared a small smile as they waited, finding a strange familiarity in each other.

"I've got your schedule printed, there are a few more things to review with your father but you can go ahead to class."

Lane took the paper from her and looked it over seeing she was taking almost all of the same classes she'd done last year, the only difference were the electives and she was stuck with the ones the boys were in. She looked to Tall Boy who jerked his head toward the door, and with a nod she left him.

Walking the carelessly dirty halls she made her way to what was listed as first period. The teacher's apathetic lecture paused at the door opening and he took the slip she handed him to see she was a new student. By the time he looked at her again she was already sliding into the seat behind Sweet Pea. "Everyone welcome Ms Petite," he said in a dull tone. No one did, so he continued the lesson.

She sat with her cheek in hand looking miserably bored in every class as she listened to lectures she'd already heard before. Lunch came around just in time for her to start questioning whether she'd actually died and was stuck in purgatory.

Lane watched the lunch lady plop some soupy brown meat onto her tray along with a slice of wonderbread and Lane stared at it a moment before sighing dejectedly and taking it. Her eyes were trying to find any substance to the liquid as she walked through the cafeteria, looking up long enough to spot an empty table and head that way.

A rough hand wrapped around her waist herding her toward another, and as she sat beside Toni Sweet Pea took the seat across from her next to Fangs. "You too good for our food?" he asked as she poked at her tray with a fork.

"Yes," Lane answered without hesitation, looking up at his dark irritable eyes. "But to be fair, I was too good for what my old school served too."

The pink haired girl beside her hummed, glancing at her gloves and finding her odd. "A brown bag girl, you're one of those," she teased with a faint smile, seeing what might've been a flash of amusement in the other girl's pale eyes. "Toni Topaz," she stuck her hand out, "and yes, it is nice to meet me."

"I'll be the judge of that," Lane said pursing her mouth around a smile.

Across from her Fangs, who'd been watching her micro expressions to see there was in fact a person in there, piped in. "Now that we're all acquainted, how's your first day so far?"

Looking up from her milk, that Lane considered safe to drink, she turned to Fangs who wore a pleasant grin. "Well," she started ripping the carton open, "I was top of my class and in line to be valedictorian, and now I'm here repeating my sophomore year. So," she raised her milk as though to toast, "it's great."

The three watched her face immediately screw up after taking a drink as she realized it had soured. She spit it back into the carton and set it on her tray, then slouched with her cheek in hand looking as miserable as she had all day. Only now Sweet Pea, who she was stuck sitting behind, understood why she kept sighing.

"Why are you enrolled as a sophomore?" Toni asked, tracing the planes of her somber face.

"Tall Boy wanted someone looking after me and these are the only friends I've made," she answered waving a hand between Fangs and Sweet Pea.

Sweet Pea promptly informed her, "we're not friends," not caring for the elbow Fangs jabbed in his side.

Lane sighed heavily. "That's what I said. Although," she looked up at Fangs, the only one so far to get her guard down enough to make her laugh, "you are my favorite."

Fangs shrugged feeling his mouth curl in a stupid grin and he worked his jaw trying to keep from showing it. "What about this guy?" he asked jabbing a thumb at a sullen Sweet Pea beside him.

"No," was Lane's quick answer. "I am all the asshole I can take."

Sweet Pea scowled while Fangs snorted, but Toni chuckled quietly telling Lane, "as long as you're aware." She looked from Lane's uncaring face to Sweet Pea's furious one and thought that if nothing else this would be amusing.

…

Scribbling the car's details on an order form Fangs ripped the sheet off the notepad and handed it to Sweet Pea. "Give this to Lane, would you."

With a frown Sweet Pea wiped his dirty hands on a rag. "Why can't you?" he asked, still bitter over what she'd said at lunch. But instead of answering Fangs set the paper down and walked away, forcing Sweet Pea to get over it. Which he did unhappily with a growl as he stalked to the back office. But he stilled in the doorway at Lane's broken face as she sat staring at the edge of the computer lost in thought, and he hesitated contemplating making Fangs deal with it because he was better at these kinds of things.

"Do you think by standing there mouth breathing and reeking of diesel you're not interrupting me?"

Scoffing unamused he shook any lingering thoughts of her as he stepped forward shoving the paper at her. And he stepped back watching her glance it over before pulling a contact list out of the desk, making the mistake of sticking around long enough to hear her quiet sniff. Her entire world had been upended, he had to remind himself that and as frustrating as he found her she was grieving – whether or not she was acknowledging it.

With a rush of heat swelling in his chest he moved around the desk and stood looking down at the top of her head finding her small by comparison. Almost timidly he reached a hand to her thin shoulder, and he expected to feel her flinch or to jerk away or to say something biting because she was hurting too much to say anything else. What he felt was her take a small breath and then the soft brush of leather as she gently held his hand.

They stayed that way for a few quiet moments but her eyes were flooding and she was so tired of this feeling. "Can you go now?" she asked in a soft voice laced with the tears she refused to shed.

In a quiet breath he answered, "yeah." It was a relief to get away from her, he didn't know her. But as he stepped back into the garage he looked at her over his shoulder seeing her reaching for the phone, intent on pretending she was fine. He didn't like her and he wasn't sure if he ever would, all he knew was he didn't like seeing her cry.

.^.

A week passed without further event. No sign of anyone coming after her, Fangs and Sweet Pea stuck close to her in school keeping unwanted eyes off her, she'd been convinced to come to the Wyrm and she usually kept to herself at the bar talking to Toni and Fangs who eventually always ended up at her side with Sweet Pea usually not far behind. It almost felt normal as the Serpents got used to this strange girl they harbored.

Lane stood at her locker storing the books for the last half of the day and only grabbing what she'd need before lunch. Her back straightened at the sudden sense that she was surrounded, and she stilled at the feeling of someone tugging on her hair. She could feel his malice burn along her roots.

"Anyone tell you what we do to snakes who wander from the pack?" asked a cruel boy in a hushed voice as he wrapped her hair around his finger. She was a pretty little thing with the greenest eyes, and he and his boys had been waiting to get her away from the two that guarded her. But she turned to him and her eyes were black, and it was like the world fell away and he was left with a sharp ringing in his ear. And beneath that he swore he could hear the rattle of a snake.

"Shit," Fangs muttered when he saw a group of Ghoulies had cornered Lane. He turned to get Sweet Pea's attention but he was already charging forward, fury etched in his features. But they both stopped short at seeing Lane smile. It wasn't a pretty smile, it looked like it'd been carved on her face. They watched her say something to him, and then as if in a daze he slowly turned and slammed his head into a locker.

The other four Ghoulies watched him slump to the ground unconscious and turned back to the girl who calmly looked between them. She stepped forward and they recoiled as though they'd been burned, and it curled a terrible grin on her face as she casually walked away. "Hello boys," she greeted the two gaping boys in a low almost sultry voice as she moved between them.

Their heads turned to watch her pass and they both blinked feeling a similar heat in the pit of their stomachs that had their breaths growing short. As she disappeared in the crowded hallway Sweet Pea and Fangs shared a wide eyed look, wondering who the hell she was.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a quiet few weeks without further incident as Lane settled within the Serpents who rose to the occasion and reluctantly adopted the outsider who had no one else. She was still no closer to finding answers and she was quickly losing hope she ever would, it was the last tie she had to her father and with that hope gone she felt lost all over again.

More often than sometimes at the very end of the day, no more than an hour before a new one began, Lane would still be on the couch with Tall Ball while the television mumbled. With his eyes growing heavy he'd look down at the girl who lay fast asleep with her head on his lap, and very gently he'd run a hand over her hair pulling it out of her face. Seeing so much of her mother in her.

The Ghoulies steered clear of her after that day, the boy having woken swearing he'd seen the face of the devil. Fangs couldn't let it go, no matter that nothing happened for weeks. He'd seen Lane's eyes and they hadn't been green, that hadn't been her smile, and none of it explained what the hell she'd done. He used it as an excuse to get close to her, to hang around her more, get to know her, make her like him. Which was all easier said than done because she was adamant about keeping everyone at arm's length.

Sweet Pea pretended like he wasn't curious, would outright deny it because he was still trying not to like her. She had a quiet intensity and a stubborn refusal to be nice, but she could be and usually was only to Fangs. And she was, without fail, down for any of their dumb plans. He liked her, but it didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

"Hey," Sweet Pea said getting Fangs' attention off the car he was working on. And he jerked his head toward where Lane stood talking to Tall Boy. "If you're gonna do it now's your chance." It was clear in his voice he didn't agree with this plan. Sweet Pea still didn't know much about her but he knew enough that if she caught Fangs snooping she'd be pissed, and he didn't think she was too big on second chances. It'd make watching out for her harder.

But curiosity had gotten the better of Fangs, because the other day he'd come in the office and noticed her internet browser up. And so the idea formed, today was the first day she'd actually left for more than the bathroom.

Checking to make sure Lane wasn't looking Fangs snuck into the office and plopped himself in her chair in front of the computer. As he waited for the internet browser to load he felt the anticipation swell. He didn't think he'd find all the answers on here, but he was hoping for something. Anything, that would explain her because it was driving him nuts guessing.

He pulled up her search history and scrolled through quickly, glancing up frequently to make sure Lane wasn't coming. Most of it was her looking for a number or where to find a specific part, work related. He'd just about given up when his eyes fell to the word _demon_. His stare didn't stray from the computer again as he began seeing, earlier in the month, more frequent searches regarding the paranormal. Different religions and cultures and their various demons, house fires in Greendale, witchcraft, house fires where no source had been found, rituals, rituals involving fire and someone burning alive, shadow creatures.

"What are you doing?"

Fangs jerked his head up looking at where Tall Boy stood glowering in the doorway. "I need a part ordered and Lane seemed busy, I was trying to find out who had it," he answered dragging the mouse over to clear the search history.

Tall Boy wasn't buying it, kid looked too guilty. "Leave her a note like everyone else and get back to work," he told him firmly, watching Fangs hesitate before grabbing a post it and scribbling something on it.

It was the last order Fangs had given her and she'd told him this morning it was being shipped. But he could answer that question when she asked, he skirted around Tall Boy seeing the man move to the desk to see what he'd been doing.

"Find anything?" Sweet Pea asked when Fangs returned to his station. Swallowing heavily Fangs shook his head, unable to make sense of anything he'd found. "Told you it was a waste of time."

His eyes flicked to Lane as she made her back to the office knowing something was going on with her. He found her at the Wyrm hours later sitting at a table nursing a stiff drink and reading, waiting for Tall Boy to tell her he was ready to go. "Hey," he greeted sliding in the chair beside her.

Without looking up she bid him a quiet, "hi."

She was forthcoming as always, only this time he was glad for it because it meant she didn't know he'd been on her computer. "Is that a good book?"

Her eyes rose from the sentence she'd been in the middle of and they narrowed as she turned to Fangs, who looked too innocent. "You're asking me if our class assigned reading is good?" What he didn't know is that she knew he'd been on her computer, she'd felt it on the mouse and she knew what he'd seen.

Crap, he thought clearing his throat. She was too smart for anyone's good and she pieced things together way too quick, she was gonna figure him out and there would be hell to pay. "I don't always know how to talk to you," he said shrugging it off, hoping she'd buy it.

But she blinked and her hard expression cracked a little. "I know I'm difficult."

"Crap," he said, his eyes widening as he realized how she'd taken it. "That's not what I meant. You're a little intense but I like you. I just," he sighed trying to find an approach that wouldn't make her feel bad, "I feel like I know as much about you now as I did when you first got here."

She shrugged saving her place and setting the book down, so far he was the only one she'd do that for. "I told you all there is to know." And she really kind of had, only leaving out the one thing.

He'd gotten that out of her pretty soon after she got there: her mom disappeared when she was young, she didn't know anything about her side of the family, her dad's parents didn't like her mom so they didn't speak to each other. "There has to be more," Fangs said with an open smile. And as he looked at her in the dimly lit bar, he wasn't thinking of demons or ghosts, he was thinking she looked very pretty in that lighting with a small grin curled on her mouth.

"I told you, I'm very boring." She had her elbow set on the table resting her chin on her covered hand as she looked at him, relaxed. Comfortable.

"Really?" he asked, because he thought her far too interesting to ever buy that. "What, not even some secret obsession with sparkling vampires?" he asked, trying to remind himself what he was really after.

She laughed lightly shaking her head. "Fraid not. I'm pretty vanilla."

"I don't buy that for a second." He saw the briefest flash of her teeth before she'd pressed her lips together, but he could see in the way the corners of her eyes squinted she was smiling. "Hey, there's um," he swallowed finding his throat suddenly dry, "there's a movie I've been wanting to see, and I thought maybe," he waved a hand as though brushing away his sudden nerves, forgetting he was supposed to be seeing it with Sweet Pea, "since I hurt your feelings, maybe I can make it up to you."

Taking a swig of her drink she nodded as though considering it. "I'm not really a movie person," she said hearing his soft oh before he looked away, scratched absentmindedly at a spot on the table. "But I admit," she met his eyes when he turned back to her, seeing them wide with something that looked like hope, "I'm easily swayed with popcorn." This time he smiled and she felt that look settle in her stomach making it harder to hide her own.

.^.

Sweet Pea stayed late to make up a test, his bike was the only one left in the lot as he walked out of the school. His boots hit the asphalt and a group of Ghoulies came out from behind a corner, their eyes shining as they glowered at the tall Serpent.

"Think we can take this snake?" asked the boy Lane had somehow convinced to knock himself out.

Another boy behind him sneered. "If we hold him down."

Sweet Pea's hand closed around the switchblade in his pocket feeling something small brush his back. And he watched the Ghoulies freeze, their eyes falling just below Sweet Pea's shoulder. He watched the leader of this group's face blanch.

"You won't always have that freak around," he spit trying to save face when the thing he feared was a girl barely over five feet tall.

As the group slunk away Sweet Pea turned to the girl beside him to see her face upturned to him, her features soft in the bright daylight. "I could get used to that," he said, always enjoying how quick the Ghoulies were to leave her alone.

Lane walked with him in the parking lot, glancing up at his surprisingly not closed off face. "Meaning you wouldn't mind if I stuck around?"

He sent a wry look down to her and told her, "I wouldn't go that far," seeing her smirk before he climbed onto his bike. She swung a leg over and he lost his breath feeling her body slide down his back as she settled on the seat behind him sneaking her hands along his waist. He wondered if she could feel the sudden heat pooling there. Clearing his throat in effort to clear her from his head he pulled out onto the road feeling her arms tighten around him as she rested her head on his shoulder. He didn't think he'd mind her sticking around.

.^.

Fangs could almost forget what he'd seen in the hallway, her dark eyes, the strange stomach-churning things she looked up. He had initiation to occupy his thoughts, and after he sat in Tall Boy's trailer letting her clean his bruised face. She dabbed gently at where they'd broken the skin, standing in the space between his legs, feeling his eyes heavy on her.

When she was done she tossed the rag on the counter and looked down at him seeing whatever he was thinking had his breathing deepening as his eyes fell from hers. His arms shyly snuck around her waist pulling her closer, and he pressed a soft kiss to her chest before resting his cheek over her heart feeling every swell of her breathing. And she stood with her arms held at her sides staring down at the top of his head feeling too much for this kind hearted boy who refused to move no matter how she tried to push him away. And with his skin against her she found he felt like summer rain.

The breath went out of him at the feel of her hands on his back, light at first and then heavier as she wrapped her arms around him drawing him further into her.

…

It crept up on him again. She was often too tired to want to spend hours at the Wyrm waiting for when Tall Boy was ready to go home, to make idle conversation with these people who were still trying to feel her out, to be polite. That night she sat not even wanting to read.

"You know if she is gonna stay she could try acting like she wants to be here," Toni commented casually, liking Lane well enough but she wasn't horribly impressed with her.

Fangs was about to say something when Sweet Pea's rough voice cut in, "I'm sure she'd rather be home with her dad, you know, if they hadn't both burned."

Toni's brows rose at how defensive he sounded. "Point taken, I'll lay off," she said lifting her drink to her grinning lips.

Fangs nudged him, seeing his eyes flick to where she sat every so often. "Why don't you take her home," he offered, thinking maybe if they spent more time together they might actually start to get along.

But Sweet Pea was cautiously aware of the way Toni was looking at him, of how quick he'd been to take her side. And he shook his head irritably responding, "you're the only one who likes her," before stalking to the pool table.

"Well that's not true," Toni said after he'd gone, finding it almost cute how obvious Sweet Pea could be. Then she turned to Fangs, who was even more obvious, and couldn't help but push him towards her out of nothing more than the curiosity of what was gonna happen between these boys and their strange girl.

Lane looked up at someone coming up beside her, expecting it to be someone else she only vaguely knew who wanted to continue to pry in effort to figure her out. Muted relief entered her eyes at seeing Fangs' sweet face. "Come on, I'll take you home."

"You shouldn't leave your friends for me," she told him knowing she wasn't worth it.

But he shrugged stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I like to think we're friends too," he told her, watching her blink surprised before a slow smile spread on her mouth.

He drove her back to Sunnyside and parked his bike outside his trailer before walking with her to Tall Boys, and they sat on the couch watching something Fangs found. It could've been a normal night, but he turned to her during a commercial and saw at some point she'd fallen asleep with her head on the armrest. He smiled for a moment just looking at her pretty face, but then his mind caught up and he turned to the room behind him.

He'd never been there with just her, Tall Boy had always been there. But now she was asleep and no one was here to know. Quietly he stood and crept to the room Tall Boy was letting her have, and he looked around to see the bed neatly made, and her clothes hanging in the closet with Tall Boy's. Normal. But his eyes fell to the shelf between the bottom of the closet and the top of the dresser to see the elaborately etched box Lane had set there. He remembered her holding it when she first appeared at the Wyrm, and he was filled with the insatiable need to know what was inside the only thing she'd grabbed from her burning house.

Peeking at where Lane still lay sleeping he gently reached for the clasp to open it, and he jerked his hand back finding it was scalding. He looked at his singed fingers and then at the box with a deep frown, finding it as curiously strange as everything about this girl was. A terrible thought crossed his mind and he stood for several long moments trying to convince himself to just drop it, that she'd hate him if she woke up. But his need to know her won out and he carefully picked up the box carrying it to the couch. Very gently he took her small hand and set it on the wood watching the metal clasp fall open, and he released an amazed breath before he sat back and opened it.

He stared opened mouthed and in awe at the inside of the box that was almost twice as big as its outside. It didn't make sense, but then again nothing about Lane did. He found a leather bound book, an old folded piece of parchment, and several things he didn't know enough to understand like crystals and bottles of what looked like herbs and string.

Glancing at Lane's peaceful face he felt a flush of guilt but not enough to change his mind. He reached for the old weathered paper first, that felt as delicate in his fingers as a butterfly's wing, and looked at the elegantly written words.

 _my dearest love_

 _If you're reading this it means I'm gone, and I will never know a greater regret than that. I wanted only to keep you from this life, hoping maybe it would spare you. But you're more myself than I. And I hope you never learn what I've done._

That was almost enough to stop him, as he realized he was looking at the only thing she had of her mother. He returned the letter to the box refusing to let himself finish it, no matter how much he wanted to. Instead he reached for the book and traced one of the hand carved symbols wondering what it meant.

He flipped through page after page seeing words that shifted and quivered, not sitting still long enough for him to make anything out. Until suddenly the words pulled together into a black mass before it exploded outward on the page seeping through like blood. He dropped it running for the door, he got it open a few inches before it slammed shut in his face. Then the lock clicked.

His hands were shaking as he turned to Lane stood trying not to show he was scared, that he was scared of her. "Open the door," he told her sounding breathless as he nearly panted.

She lowered the arm she'd raised to catch the door and walked to him seeing his hand in his pocket. "You can let go of your knife, I'm gonna hurt you."

"Then why's the door locked?" he demanded as she moved to the top step leaving him cornered. He was too panicked trying to figure out if she was crazy or if he was for believing this might be possible.

Something in her broke at seeing his fear plain as any feature on his face, at knowing he was gonna leave her too. And it hurt. "You can't tell anyone."

"Tell them what?" he cried, his voice echoing in the empty trailer. "What the hell is going on Lane?"

In a broken voice she told him, "I don't know," and it quieted him. "I don't know what's going on, I don't know what killed my dad or how I'm supposed to stop it. I just," tears flooded her eyes and she looked away from his wide eyes that made her hate herself for what he now thought of her, "I don't know."

He felt the door unlock behind him but his eyes didn't leave her. At the first sign of tears it was like the air had been sucked out of him, and now he was left looking at what he'd done to her. He moved to the step below the one she stood on and almost timidly wrapped his arms around her, feeling her hands clench around his shirt. "I'm sorry," he told her softly, feeling her chest jolt with every breath as she tried to keep from crying. Resting his cheek over the top of her head he held her until her tears turned to quiet sniffling, waiting for when she was ready to pull away.

She wiped her eyes and returned to the couch letting him sit beside her before she grabbed the book and set it open in his hands. From the way his brows drew together she knew the writing was still dancing, and she reached under placing her hand over his with her fingers fitting in the spaces between his. It was like a shock that ran from her hand through the rest of her body, a loud buzzing that made her feel warm – summer rain. They sat so close she heard the breath he took at her touch, and she watched his face closely for the moment the letters arranged themselves into something he recognized.

With wide eyes he turned to her, so close his nose grazed her cheek. "Holy shit," he breathed realizing this was all real. She was a witch, he was holding her grimoire, and he was looking at a goddamn spell.

Brushing her hair behind her ear she nodded. "I only got it open last year." It was sometime after she'd turned sixteen, she'd been moving it to dust the shelf and the lock had snapped open. "I always knew what I was but there was a whole world my mother never wanted me to be apart of and I don't know what I'm supposed to do." He was the only one she'd said that to, it made her feel too close to him. Too aware of his heart.

Fangs nodded as though he understood, but he told her, "you don't have to figure it out tonight, or even tomorrow. You fit pretty well here." He saw her press her lips together and he nudged her with his shoulder. "So what's really with the gloves?" he asked, not buying what she'd first said about being a germaphobe.

She considered the answer, if she was going this far with him she might as well go all the way. "I feel things when I touch them, my mother was the same way. It's gotten worse since last year," she said feeling from where she touched his hand he was curious. "With people I can get a feel for what kind of person they are, I can get thoughts too if they're loud enough. Or, I'm touching them enough." Something about that excited him, but she couldn't tell much more than that. "Objects too, I can feel what someone was doing or why."

"So you knew I was on your computer," he said reading it her expression and he nodded uncomfortably, not sure if he should apologize. And then he was aware of her hand still held over his under the book and he looked to see her grinning and realized she'd just felt that thought. "Holy shit," he said again, this time in awe. "What do I feel like?"

She looked at his open face and told him, "summer rain. It pours sometimes but usually it's soft. And warm."

A rush of heat rose in his face and he looked away, knowing she'd probably felt it. His eyes fell on the book with the old looping writing thinking it looked like the writing in the letter, and he was glad for something else to talk to her about. "What does this one do?"

"If you read it you'll find out," she said, callous as always.

He shrugged not falling for it. "I wanted you to tell me." He watched the softest look enter her eyes before she dropped them to the page, but she couldn't stop that smile and he sat back pretty proud of himself for making her blush.

They stayed that way for what felt like forever flipping through the pages reading neatly scribbled words. She told him stories of when she first tried a spell, of making the coffee pot explode one time when she was angry, of accidentally misplacing her dad's hair – he'd been bald for a week before they finally found it buried in the litter box.

"No way," Fangs said, his voice choked by his laughter. "What'd you do?"

She smiled at the memory, raising a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. "Well we cleaned it, and I put it on him," she was stopped by the sudden giggles that shook her chest and she cleared her throat, "but I put it on backwards." She broke off and they laughed together with a faint tone of delirium from how late it'd gotten.  
Her laughing settled before his, the more somber of the two, and she missed her father. Turning to the boy beside her she found him still grinning at her, his sweet brown eyes shining like she was the greatest thing. And she found it hard to look at him. "Thank you," she told him in a fragile voice "for not leaving."

From the quiet way she said it he didn't think many people stuck around for her. And he told himself then, feeling like she'd just given him her heart, that no matter what kind of crazy shit happened he was gonna stick around for her. "You're stuck with me now," he said, wondering if she could hear the promise.

But she was too far inside her mind and she replied, "I could've done worse."

With a rush of feeling he leaned forward pressing a quick kiss to her cheek, feeling the breath still in her chest and he pulled back looking for her eyes. She hadn't heard his promise but she felt it then in his lips, and it filled her with such a terrible warmth it left her breathless. They looked at each other with mirrored shy expressions in their shining eyes and they leaned into each other reaching the decision together. As their mouths molded together Fangs sat back pulling her with him and onto his lap, his hands gripping her hips while hers cupped his face.

They were so lost in each other they didn't hear the door open, but they did hear the thump of boots on the stairs and they jumped apart turning to where Tall Boy stood on the top step with heavy eyes on the guilty pair.

"I should go," Fangs said swallowing thickly, his eyes shifting awkward and uncomfortable.

Tall Boy gruffly agreed and waited as the boy shuffled out, stopping to give Lane a quiet goodbye. Then Tall Boy turned looking down at where she sat with her hands folded in her lap looking for all the world like she was innocent, and he shook his head at how much like her mother she was. Trouble included.

.^.

"Can you fly? Do you have a talking cat? Do you fly on a broom with your talking cat?"

"You have to stop," Lane said mildly annoyed as Fangs followed her around the back of the shop as she did inventory after work. Tall Boy offered to stay but Fangs jumped at the chance; he had enough time to sleep on it and come back with a whole slew of questions he'd been throwing at her all day.

He followed her around a shelf and wrapped an arm around her waist spinning her around to face him, he'd done it so fast she had to catch herself on his chest and it left them with no more than a breath between them. Her faced was upturned to she see him and he lowered his head letting his nose brush hers, seeing the small smile that curled on her mouth. And when he had her where he wanted her he asked, "can you read minds?" She was leaning into him licking her lips and she nodded slowly, her focus clearly on his mouth. "What am I thinking?" he whispered, his lips grazing hers with every word.

Her mouth caught his chin and she trailed wet kisses down his throat feeling the way he swallowed. "You're thinking," she kissed his jaw, "if I kiss you," the corner of his mouth, "you'll stop talking." She leaned towards him feeling him bend further to find her mouth, but she pulled away leaving him with only the ghost of a kiss on his lips.

He looked down at her shining eyes feeling the way he nearly panted and he shook his head thinking she was very good. "It is now," he said seeing a flash of her smile before he cupped the back of her head and pulled her mouth to his. He could taste the peppermint from her chapstick, then his knees buckled at the way her tongue scraped his teeth. Breathless and flushed he pulled away looking down at her greedy eyes. "One more question," he said and waited for a flash of irritation.

But she smiled faintly. "Yes," she told him, seeing the way his brows drew together in question, "you can take me to dinner."

"How'd you know, you're wearing these?" he asked grabbing one of her gloved her hands.

She leaned against him finding him very cute in his confusion. "I tasted it," she said stealing a quick kiss.

He'd just leaned into it when she pulled away again and he looked down at her thinking she was nothing short of amazing. But something occurred to him that had heat rising in his chest. "Does that mean you know I thought,"

"About holding me against the wall," she finished for him, seeing his cheeks darken, "yeah I got that too." She heard his mumbled apology and she showed mercy. "Come on," she said stepping back and tugging him by the hand she still held, "you're taking me to dinner."

He let her pull him toward the door and with a wicked grin he charged forward wrapping his arms around her waist lifting her feet off the ground. She laughed letting her head fall back on his shoulder as he carried her, feeling him kiss her cheek as he went. And she felt something she thought she might not get to again, happy.

.^.

Fangs convinced Sweet Pea to let Lane come to the movies with them. Or rather Fangs told him he'd casually mentioned to her they were seeing a movie before Sweet Pea suggested they invite her. "Yeah?" Fangs asked surprised not just that Sweet Pea agreed but that it'd been his idea. He wondered if maybe they got along more than realized, and he found himself not quite happy with the thought of that.

Sweet Pea shrugged not wanting it to be a big deal, Toni already teased him relentlessly about Lane. "Well she hangs around us enough."

"More like she does her thing and we're just along for the ride," Fangs agreed, seeing Sweet Pea's breath of a laugh as he shook his head.

She was the most forthcoming person he knew, didn't beat around the bush or leave subtle hints hoping he'd catch on – if she wanted something she'd get it and she'd only ask for help if she absolutely needed it. She was as difficult as he was, stubborn too, and he liked the hell out of it. He liked the hell out of her too.

Tall Boy looked between the two boys that stood outside his trailer waiting for Lane, both with their hands in their pockets scuffing their boots, a little more time spent on their hair and picking out a nice shirt. And because he knew her mother he knew exactly how this was gonna go.

She came out wearing one of Tall Boy's oversized shirts tucked into her jeans without a speck of makeup or care. And all three felt something twist in their stomachs at the sight of her.

"No later than eleven," he told them, getting a yes sir from the two he had he eye on.

Lane sat between them in the theater holding the bucket of popcorn, her gloves folded in Sweet Pea's pocket. Not long after the lights dimmed and the trailers started playing she felt Fangs' hand on her leg, his fingers pressing into the soft inside of her thigh that had her heart stuttering. And as he slid it higher, in a way that made her lose her breath, she knew he did it on purpose.

He left his hand there in place of his arm around her shoulder as the movie started, and within a few minutes she felt another touch. Softer this time, and she looked down at where Sweet Pea's hand rested on her other leg just above her knee. He felt so strongly she could feel it through the fabric, he was so nervous. Very slowly she reached for him lightly brushing her fingers over the back of his hand hearing the breath he took. And she found he felt like dark storm clouds rolling in front of the sun, and every so often the light broke through.

With a hand held over either boy's, the tub of popcorn untouched on her lap, she looked up at the screen with eyes so dark they were nearly black. Her mother's eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

_This chapter goes through episodes 2x03-2x04._

* * *

It was oddly empty in the parking lot at the grocery store given the time. Normally it was bustling with mothers running last minute errands before dinner or workers on their break looking for something to eat either then or later. But it was almost desolate, and the once bright sky had darkened to a dull grey.

Fangs was running an errand for Tall Boy so Sweet Pea was the one taking Lane to the store, not that he minded so much. She was easy enough to get along with, and ever so often he'd sneak glances at her trying to gauge what she thought of him. She wore a black turtleneck and knee high boots over her jeans, and a pair of red gloves that covered only her palms and her fingers – closed off, guarded. And he thought she was beautiful.

But he felt her gloved hand grab his as they walked to Tall Boy's truck and he stopped looking down at her curiously to see her eyes set beyond him. He turned seeing the mass of bodies in studded leather and ripped jeans and he pulled her behind him cursing their luck, there was eight Ghoulies to their two. "Go back in the store," he told her reaching for his switchblade, knowing he wasn't gonna win this fight but he wasn't willing to just leave her to them.

"What do we have here," a lanky boy with dark stringy hair asked as they slunk toward the two. "It's our lucky day boys, looks like we found a couple of snakes to cut the heads off of. What do you say?"

His boys sneered with gleeful cruelty as they closed in around the two, and one of them recognized her. "Hey, it's the bitch who's been messing with our boys."

Sweet Pea's hand clenched into a fist, his features pulling together in rage. "She's not your bitch," he said flicking his switchblade open, knowing exactly where this was going.

The first boy who'd spoken smirked making a show of eying her, not liking how calm she appeared – he'd change that. "No but she will be," he said, his tone laced with promise. She was a pretty little thing, Malachai would like her for nothing else but paying her back for the shit she'd caused. "Take him down and grab her."

Sweet Pea held an arm out to keep her behind him feeling his heart racing as he eyed the guys stepping forward. But Lane ducked under it and positioned herself in front of him, her dark eyes fixed on the one who acted like the leader. He jerked to a halt caught in her gaze and stood unable to move or breathe, to do anything but stare as her features melted into something demonic.

"Oh shit she's doing it," one of them said and the others stopped looking from her to the boy that was now turning a faint blue. "Yo call that bitch off."

He'd been startled at first but hearing that word again in relation to Lane had Sweet Pea snapping out of it and he charged forward swinging. "I already told you asshole, she's not your bitch."

Before another Ghoulie could get Sweet Pea off of him Lane pulled off a glove and raised her hand snapping and it sounded like a gunshot. They all flinched and turned to her then the blue boy who was now slumped on the ground unconscious. His friends pulled back not knowing what kind of devil she was, but they grabbed their boy and carried him off with the promise to make her pay for whatever she'd done.

With the Ghoulies retreating Sweet Pea turned to where Lane stood with a faint smile, but mostly he was just confused. And interested. "Who are you?" he asked her softly, understanding now why Fangs had been so obsessed with knowing.

But Lane was still staring beyond him and her chest swelled heavily with every quick breath. "Get behind me."

Her widened eyes had his pulse jumping as he turned to see what was scaring her – so far nothing did, which meant it was something bad. With deeply furrowed brows he watched something take shape in the shadow of a tree, almost humanlike but it stepped into the light and its form fell apart as it pulled itself toward them. Even in his non-understanding Sweet Pea still put himself in front of Lane and as that thing rose trying to take shape he could feel himself shaking as it crept closer.

"Cinis Cinerem."

It seemed to burst into ashes that fell softly to the asphalt like snow, and still not knowing what was happening Sweet Pea turned seeing Lane rifling through the grocery bag. "What the hell was that?" he demanded feeling his thoughts spinning and his heart beating too fast and too hard and he couldn't catch his breath. "What the hell did you just do? What the hell's going on?" His tone rose with each word until he was almost yelling at her.

She grabbed the jar of pickles and dumped it out onto the ground. He was panicking not only from her hold on the Ghoulie but now seeing the formless scout, and soon what they were gonna do. Under normal circumstances she'd simply take his memory of this, but they didn't have a lot of time before it pulled itself back together.  
So she looked up at Sweet Pea and very bluntly told him, "I'm a witch, and I need you to hurry up and get over it because I need you." Moving around him she dropped to her knees and stuffed her gloves in her pocket before gathering the ash into the jar. "I need to bury this somewhere no one's gonna find it, some place abandoned or in the woods. Anything."

I need you, he was stuck on her saying that and it was something he actually understood. So he nodded. "Fox Forest," he said hearing her short great before she walked to the car. And with nothing else to do he followed her and drove.

She held her hand out to him and he looked at it realizing he'd never actually seen them without gloves – she had small hands though her fingers were long and thin. Pretty, like the rest of her. Even if she didn't make sense. So he gave her his hand. "No, your switchblade," she told him in an irritable huff.

That attitude was familiar and it had him rolling his eyes as he fished it out of his pocket and shoved it at her. Every so often he'd look at her to see her carving some symbol in the top of the lid. "What is that?" he finally asked.

"A seal," she said blowing the metal shavings off when she was done. And she handed him his knife back, feeling a shock when his fingers grazed her skin. He had his walls up today but she could feel something beyond it, and after a moment she reached to where his hand was around the steering wheel feeling the way it tightened at her touch.

Her fingers were light as they ran over his knuckles as though feeling every bruise that'd been there, and it had something churning in his stomach making him feel sick. And as she grazed the inside of his wrist his walls crumbled and she felt the heat pool low in his stomach that had him losing his breath. Beneath his obvious attraction she saw his fear, not so much of her but for her. Getting what she wanted she pulled away hearing him catch his breath now that she wasn't touching him.

"Nothing's gonna come after me," she told him, meeting his eyes when he glanced at her. "This was a scout. Usually they take the form of animals and less often people, but this one couldn't because the magic used to summon it was weak. But we're sealing it."

"So it can't tell whoever's after you where you are," Sweet Pea finished for her, finding that at least sensible.

"Exactly."

He nodded thinking he understood but his head was spinning and he was having a hard time catching up. From the moment she stepped foot in the Wyrm there'd been something off about her. "So you're a witch," he said finding that word hard to say in terms of it being real. She nodded and he almost wished she'd told him it was all some big joke, but he couldn't deny it made some sense. "So magic and all that," he started, pulling off the side of the road next to Fox Forest, "it's all real? Like spells and potions and shit. You can do all that?"

Reaching the end of her patience, which her fried nerves did little to help, she huffed irritably. "For the love of god, keep up," she told him climbing out of the car.

She was infuriating as always and it was so normal to him that he scoffed a laugh and followed her as she trekked through the long expanse of untouched woods. They walked side by side for several minutes, Sweet Pea considering the worry of how they'd find their way out but he let it go figuring Lane would know, before she finally stopped deeming it 'right' enough.

As she dropped to her knees clawing at the ground he knelt beside her helping her dig the hole before she set the jar inside and stood dusting herself off. This time when she held her hand out to him he gave her his pocketknife, but she flicked the blade open and grabbed his wrist. "What the hell?" he exclaimed trying to pull away from her as she dug the knife into his palm. But instead of answering she held his hand over the hole dripping his blood over the jar, and he listened to her dark foreign words feeling the air around them grow cold before it seemed to fall still. As though any sound would break it.

Lane crouched down filling the hole with dirt and smoothing it until it almost wasn't obvious someone had been there. Wiping her hands on her pants she pulled the gloves back on and turned to see Sweet Pea watching cautious and unhappy as blood dripped down his fingers.

He looked down at the hand she'd extended to him and he considered making a run for it, leaving her and her magic behind and returning to his normal boring life. But even though he still didn't understand, she hadn't failed him yet. So he set his hand in hers watching as she spread his fingers so she could see what she'd done, and then he inhaled sharply as she bent to press a soft kiss on his palm. His throat bobbed with his swallow as his eyes flicked to hers and he lost his breath all over again, she kept doing that to him. He might have to consider it a problem.

She tasted a lot of feelings, most angry and bitter, but there were a few that were soft, and fewer still were thoughts of her and they seemed to burn him. As she pulled away his thumb dragged over her lips wiping the blood from them, and it was her breath this time that was lost as she blinked up at his dark eyes. This boy who rose to every occasion no matter how reluctant because he knew it's what was needed, his willingness to come to her defense either physically or verbally before he'd even liked her – this boy never failed to surprise her.

…

The sun had fallen and left the night dark when Fangs heard a knock on his door, and he pulled it open to see Lane and Sweet Pea on his doorstep with dirt on their pants. "He knows," Lane told him simply.

It left Fangs to catch up and he looked between them seeing something off about Sweet Pea, something in his eyes that made him look kind of small. "What, that we're kind of together?" he asked still not sure what was happening.

But Sweet Pea turned to Lane with hurt shining clear in his eyes before he'd pulled his anger around it. "You guys are dating?"

"No," was Lane's immediate answer. But she hesitated before correcting herself with, "kind of. That's not the point," her voice raised and sharpened with irritability. She looked to Fangs, getting herself back on track. "The other thing."

Her being a witch. He gave a quiet, "oh," as he finally understood, and he turned to Sweet Pea and told him, "yeah," with a nod.

Muttering to herself Lane rolled her eyes exasperated. "Deal with him," she told Fangs motioning to Sweet Pea who stood so unhappy she could feel it coming off him, "I've got something else to do. I'll see you guys later."

She left them there to talk about it, about her and what was real, what they'd seen. And she made her way to what was now her home and shut the door facing where Tall Boy sat on the couch with a beer in hand.

Looking from her dirty jeans to her tangled hair and her hard eyes he asked, "tough day?" And she sighed heavily before slumping on the couch beside him, close enough to touch but not actually touching. He knew Sweet Pea had her today, and from her morose attitude it wasn't hard to guess. "You had to know a few people would find out," he told her meeting her almost pouting gaze. "And you had to know it'd be your boys."

It didn't mean she had to be happy about it. There was still part of her that wanted to go home, it grew smaller everyday, but she couldn't just leave this place if there were people she cared about. "We saw a scout, I took care of it," was her immediate follow up. "But, sooner or later it's gonna find me." She didn't know what she was supposed to do then, if she'd be able to do anything – if she was strong enough.

"We'll deal with it when the time comes," he told her, looking at her then and remembering just how young she was. And so very sad. He held a hand out to her and watched her look at it for several moments before she pulled off a glove and slid her hand in his, filling his touch with the promise to be there for her so that she'd feel it.

Releasing a breath she let her head fall to his shoulder still holding his hand, feeling the love he had for her mother that he now had for her. There was something else, a want that pained him but he kept that from her. "What did you wanna talk to me about?" she asked, finally getting to the point.

She was done talking about herself, so he nodded and let her go. "You remember I told you Jughead Jones was transferring to Southside High?" He was FP's kid, the son of the Serpents leader and that was supposed to mean something. It meant nothing to Lane, but she still nodded for him to continue. "Keep an eye on him, he'll need it."

It's how Lane found herself the next day leaning against the locker between Sweet Pea and Fangs, who were collecting their things, watching the pale dark haired boy in the frumpy grey beanie looking suspiciously around him.

"Like what you see?" Fangs asked her, feeling his chest flush as he caught her staring. She didn't even glance at him, watching Jughead dodge someone's elbow. "Tall Boy told me to watch him. He's out of his depth."

On the other side of her Sweet Pea scoffed, "he's been on the Northside too long." He'd convinced himself he was an idiot and it was all in his head, because listening to Fangs talk about her last night it was clear who she was into. But he wasn't ready to be nice yet, he couldn't make himself look at her.

…

Jughead lay curled in on himself in the dim hallway as boots stomped his ribs and fists wailed on his head. There were too many of them and no one else in the school, it'd been stupid for him to stay after, for him to think he could get through this.

Coming down the hall her footsteps echoed like thunder and the Ghoulies turned seeing her just moments before she raised a hand and snapped. "Dark." The lights went off around them leaving in them in an eerie lightlessness. And they recoiled spitting curses, calling her a devil.

As the last of them left Jughead raised his head finding the pale blue emergency light suddenly back on, and he looked up at the girl who'd been watching him all day. She looked down at him without feeling offering no comfort or a hand up, and then she turned and walked away. Over her shoulder she told him, "you can either keep up or wait for them to come back."

With his sides aching he gathered his things, stuffed his hat back on his head, and jogged after her. He'd met a lot of people today, most of them Serpents like Toni; but this girl, she was strange. "What was that?" he asked, not knowing what exactly had happened because he'd been protecting his head. But it shouldn't have been dark like that, like there wasn't a single ray of light anywhere.

"A trick," she answered blandly without looking at him. "Sit with the Serpents, it'll be easier."

He was tired of being told that, of them trying to force him to be apart of it. "I'm not a Serpent," he told her.

Now she looked at him and her brow was raised. "Me neither," she said seeing that surprised him. "I'm from Greendale. But these people took me in when they didn't have to, the least I can do is get my head out of my ass and act like I appreciate it."

He scoffed wondering who'd planted that idea in her head, but before he could respond they reached the door he tried earlier that'd been chained. She raised a gloved hand to the bar handle and he heard a loud clang as she shoved it open. Following her outside he looked down to see the chains had fallen. "Was that a trick too?" he asked, wondering who she was.

"Call it whatever you want," she told him callously, her gaze settling on the boy straddling his bike waiting for her. Leaving Jughead on the sidewalk behind her she walked over to Fangs saying, "I thought you were ditching me again today."

He shrugged, his eyes on the sway of her wide hips. "I have time to drive you home," he told her, wishing he could take her out like he'd planned to. At the sight of her warm smile he raised his chin meeting her halfway for a kiss. "If I didn't know better," he mumbled against her lips, "I'd say you were sweet on me."

"Not a chance," she said breathless, as she continued to be with him. But instead of kissing him again her eyes flicked to the boy who still stood on the sidewalk watching them, amazed at seeing such a soft look on her otherwise stony face. "Need something?"

He almost jumped at her firm tone and Jughead shook his head. "I just," he ran a hand through his fisted hair, "thank you." She'd been there and she didn't have to be.

Swinging a leg around the bike she sat with her hips pressed against Fangs and told Jughead, "I'm not the one you should be thanking." She saw on his face he knew she meant the other Serpents, the ones who actually cared about his wellbeing because she didn't. Leaning forward she pressed a kiss to the soft skin behind Fangs' ear, and he shivered at feeling her teeth nip his earlobe before he drove her home.

.^.

Feeling someone graze his side Sweet Pea looked up from his lunch tray to see Lane climbing onto the bench beside him. He watched her set her brown bag on the table and carefully pull her gloves off placing them neatly beside her. Her shoulder was pressed against his, her leg was too, and at times like these it was hard to pretend it was in his head.

She unfolded the bag and tossed a bag of chips at him, seeing his small smirk as he took them. And then she pulled out her own chips and the sandwich she'd made and set it on top of the bag. Neat, meticulous.

"Can I sit here?"

Sweet Pea and Toni both looked up at Jughead, his face bruised and hardened, and Toni made room for him. He glanced at Sweet Pea seeing the fire in his eyes, and Jughead looked away trying not to feel like he was getting roped into this. He looked down to see Lane sliding half her sandwich on the ziplock bag she'd packed it in, and he looked up watching her dump half her chips onto the brown bag she used as a tray and then set the rest of the chips in front of him. She didn't look at him, he didn't have to show his thanks, it just was.

She felt Sweet Pea's knuckles brush her arm as he reached across to grab a chip, and as she buzzed with the feel of him she looked at his heavy eyes knowing he'd done it on purpose. And it left her body flushed and aching; he'd forced her to feel what she did to him. As he raised the chip to his mouth she snatched it from him, and he turned watching her pop it into hers.

.^.

Lane was sitting on Fangs' lap in the back office of the garage doing paperwork when Sweet Pea found them. He was sitting back in the chair with his hands either on her hip or encasing her thigh. And Sweet Pea had to pull himself together before he could speak. "We're going after the Northsider that pulled a gun on us," he told him, having already grabbed a group of guys looking for a brawl. Fangs was the last one.

Fangs looked up at where Sweet Pea stood consciously aware of Lane glaring at him unhappily. And it wasn't at the thought of him rain-checking yet another date, and that made him swallow heavily. "I already told Lane I was taking her out, I can't cancel on her again."

"You're serious?" Sweet Pea demanded, his blood boiling as Lane turned to him.

"Yeah, and I have half a mind to bring you with us. You're not going after some guy with a gun."

His eyes were dark as he sneered at her. "Your concern is very telling, but I'm not your boyfriend and I don't have to listen to you." Glancing at where Fangs sat behind her Sweet Pea told him, in a marginally softer tone, "enjoy your date."

"What was that about?" Fangs asked looking to Lane after he'd left. Sweet Pea was usually a little rough around the edges but he seemed to warm up to her in the past couple weeks, now he seemed so angry.

Lane knew why, she'd felt his jealously brush across her skin like wind. But what she said was, "wanna tell me about the guy with the gun." She had enough to deal with on her own, she was gonna get dragged into this the same way Jughead felt he was.

He looked away pulling his hands off her, not giving her the chance to get anything off his skin. "I'd rather tell you where I'm taking you tonight." He'd taken her out twice and then there was a span of weeks he kept having to cancel on her because the Serpents needed him, because he was still new and he felt like he couldn't say no. But it was just Sweet Pea this time, he thought he'd understand.

And just like that, she melted. Like butter in the palm of his hand, not all at once but slowly growing softer losing little by little – laughing and loving – until she was a puddle trembling beneath him.

It was dark in the trailer filled only with their heavy breathing as he rolled off her, feeling the air cool on his sweaty chest. "How was it for you?"

They lay turned into each other, him running the tips of his fingers along the expanse of her thigh and her with his necklace curled around her finger. "Well," she started taking a steadying breath as she tried to slow her pounding heart, "I felt my part, and your part ten times stronger."

From how hard she fought to keep people from touching her he'd never really wanted to know what she felt, but goddamn did he want to now. "I thought I felt you come twice," he said finding himself insanely jealous. But her mouth curled in this wicked little grin and his brows shot up. "Three?" he asked her and she nodded. "That is so not fair."

She laughed lightly pulling him closer, cupping his face as she kissed him gently. With her feelings and his all swirling around inside her the words came easily to her. "I really like you."

"I really like you too," he told her, no hesitation. They leaned into each other for a kiss, but a sudden blue and red glow had them pulling back as Fangs sat up. He moved to the window and peeked through the blinds to see Sweet Pea being thrown against the side of a trailer by a deputy. "Shit," he muttered as he turned looking for his boxers. "Stay here alright, I don't know what's going on but go back to Tall Boy's if I don't come back." When she didn't respond he turned for the bed finding it empty. "Lane?"

Sweet Pea glowered as his hands were forced behind his back and cuffed, feeling his eye starting to bruise, knowing the Northsiders probably blamed the Serpents for the whole thing. And even if they hadn't the Sheriff's office sure as hell would.

"What the hell?"

He turned at the deputy's exclaim and saw Lane standing naked in the rain a few feet away, and Sweet Pea's whole world seemed to crash to a sudden stop. She stood feeling the light rain catch in her hair as she held a glass to the officer, who stood stock still caught in her pale gaze hearing the faint rattle of a snake. Without the will to refuse he took the glass from her and drank.

Sweet Pea watched confused as the officer dropped the glass and turned uncuffing him. "You're free to go," he said in a voice that sounded far away, in a dream, before he returned to his car.

As if in a daze Sweet Pea turned to Lane seeing her walking back to the trailer where Fangs stood in only his boxers watching from the doorstep. Spellbound Sweet Pea followed.

Fangs closed the door after him and as Sweet Pea stood soaked and bruised Fangs shared a long look with Lane. Together they turned to Sweet Pea, who still felt like he couldn't move, and began pulling off his wet clothes. Lane pushed the jacket off his shoulders and pulled shirt over his head feeling how deep his breathing was growing, while Fangs took off the rest. And then they stood together pushing him onto the couch. Sweet Pea couldn't think straight as they sat pressed on either side of him kissing from his jaw down his neck, their hands roaming his chest. Her teeth grazed his tattoo, feeling how much it hurt him.

She took his face in her hands and turned him to her as Fangs sank between his legs, tasting on his tongue how confused he was, and beneath that how much he wanted this. Wanted them. With an arm around her and his other hand on the back of Fangs' head, Sweet Pea released a breath letting go of any lingering doubt as he gave in completely. His head fell back on the couch with eyes screwed shut and his mouth hung open, and when he'd gotten control of his body again he pulled Lane closer returning his lips to hers. He didn't last much longer, and he came in Fangs' mouth moaning into Lane's.

His chest burned as he caught his breath and he sat back feeling Lane's hand in his hair as Fangs crawled up his body pressing wet kisses as he went, until Fangs sat on the other side of him and Sweet Pea turned to kiss him too. Bliss, Lane let her hand trail over his collarbone, absolute bliss.

They crawled into bed together, Sweet Pea still between them as they both lay with their heads on either of his shoulders pressed against his side. Lane held her hand over his heart feeling it beat beneath her palm, Fangs held his own hand over hers, and she felt how content they both were and she sighed happily letting her eyes fall closed.


	4. Chapter 4

_This chapter spans episode 5 through episode 6._

* * *

She stormed through the halls of Southside High with a gravely serious frown and burning eyes, most knew the rumors or at least overheard the stories and they moved out of her way, the few who dared found themselves either tripping or shoved back by a wall of air. Finding the two she was after Lane stepped between them and raised her hands hitting them both like it was the most vicious game of tag.

Sweet Pea and Fangs looked down as she continued on and their furrowed brows smoothed as they sighed not needing her to tell them they were to follow. She cut a sharp turn into an empty classroom and Sweet Pea went in after her first with Fangs behind him, he hadn't even reached for the door before it slammed shut. "I see we're in a mood," he said under his breath as he turned to where Lane was fuming.

"A bomb, seriously?"

Sweet Pea scoffed shaking his head. "Jughead ask you to try talking us out of it?" He was getting sick of Jughead putting his Northsider friends over the Serpents, and now he was dragging Lane into it.

"Toni happened to be thinking about it when she brushed my arm." It would be the last time Lane wore anything other than long sleeves at this damn school. These were the things she was left out of because it wasn't her place, except now she was invested in these idiots.

Reaching a hand across Sweet Pea's chest to keep him back Fangs stepped forward, taking this one because he was the only one she sometimes listened to. "Look, babe, I know how this looks from the outside. And it's not your fault but you don't know enough to understand how much we need this," he told her, trying for a softer approach.

"I know exactly what this means to you, I feel it every time you guys are angry," Lane said staring them down with her arms crossed. "I'm not telling you to stop, I'm saying no to the bomb."

Sweet Pea scoffed again wondering where she thought her place was in all this, one night and a great morning didn't give her the right. "What's the difference?" he asked, challenging her. His eyes seemed darker when framed by a bruise.

Lane was so close to the end of her patience she'd forgotten the whole reason she wanted to talk to them, instead she was focused on the bomb he was so intent on using. "What exactly is the plan?" she asked now addressing only Sweet Pea. "Are you gonna assemble it there and hope you don't get caught, because that's enough to get tried as an adult? Or, are you gonna drive it there and hope it doesn't go off if you hit a pothole?"

They stared each other down, neither one willing to bend. But beside them Fangs exclaimed, "holy shit," having finally understood Lane's intention. He smacked Sweet Pea's chest. "Dude, she's the bomb."

"What?" Sweet Pea asked, his anger wilting in place of confused understanding. He looked at Lane to see her sighing irritably.

Fangs nodded excitedly. "Yeah, she's not telling us to stop she's just saying no to the bomb," he said repeating her words. "Because we have one." He moved to where Lane stood with her arms still crossed and he bent to kiss her cheek. "And you are the bomb." He saw the way she pursed her mouth knowing she was trying not to smile.

"You're lucky you guys are cute," she told them, looking from a grinning Fangs to a now guilty Sweet Pea who felt bad for the way he'd spoken to her, "and that you're halfway decent in bed. Otherwise I swear to god I'd go for Toni, she's the only one I don't have to think for." And with that she stormed back out.

Sweet Pea called after her, "the only one you don't have to think for?" the same time Fangs asked, "halfway decent in bed?"

…

The three lay in Fangs' trailer intertwined as they caught their breath, the boys shared a euphoric grin but Lane had her eyes closed trying to slow her racing heart. "You alright?" Fangs asked, hearing the way she nearly panted.

She nodded licking her dry lips. "It was just a lot," she answered breathlessly. She hadn't been able to tell what was her and what was them, and she hadn't been able to tell their feelings apart – it was all just so much good. Every nerve in her body had been filled with them, she felt like she could've died.

Taking a deep enough breath to catch she pulled herself up, knowing she was gonna be sore in the morning, and she turned so she was facing them as they both lay on their backs. Her legs were curled against Sweet Pea's side and he ran a hand over her calf, and she held an arm over Fangs' waist to hold herself up feeling him trail the tips of his fingers along the back of her hand.

"So what exactly is your initiation?" she asked, as she'd been wanting to ask since Jughead showed up at the Wyrm declaring himself ready to be a Serpent.

Fangs and Sweet Pea shared a look before turning back to her, watching her chest swell as she breathed. "You have to pass four tests, the first is taking care of the beast," Sweet Pea told her.

She looked to Fangs and he explained with a simple name, "Hot Dog."

Her brows drew together in amused disbelief. "Your beast is very sweet."

"Yeah, he doesn't usually take to people the way he did to you." He'd been on her the moment he caught her scent, they had to drag that dog away from her so they could give him to Jughead.

A small knowing smile curled on Lane's mouth. "What are the other three?"

Sweet Pea took over again explaining the second was reciting their laws which he didn't tell her, third was showing no fear – Fangs was the one to explain taking a knife out of a rattlesnake's cage – and the final test was a show of worthiness to be a Serpent as well as a willingness to die for them. After he was done Sweet Pea looked at her expression seeing she wasn't impressed. "What about you, is there an initiation for witches in Greendale?" he asked, his tone containing a faint edge.

"Yes, but I'm not part of their coven," Lane told him, not sure if the Church of Night even knew she exist. "My mother's from Mexico that makes me a bruja. But from what I understand we serve the same master."

Sweet Pea looked up at her not fully understanding, but beside him Fangs gasped and muttered, "oh my god it's the devil."

Lane chuckled faintly and nodded seeing Sweet Pea's eyes widen, his hand tightening on her leg. "From what I've gathered they sign away their name in the Dark Lord's book with their own blood, giving themselves up to a life of servitude for…something. I don't know that part." She had a guess but it was uneducated and she hated those the most, so she didn't try to elaborate. Instead she looked to Sweet Pea who watched her closely and told him, "So no, I'm not terribly impressed by your initiation."

He blinked realizing she'd gotten that from the hand he held on her leg, and he found her to be amazing and terrifying all at once. And as she smiled down at him he realized she'd felt that thought too. "Son of a bitch," he breathed. Before he had time to think, meaning before she had time to realize he was thinking it, he reached a hand to cup her face and pulled her against him kissing her.

"I told you she was great," Fangs said propping himself up on one arm as he grinned. "This could've been our last few weeks, but you were just so set on not liking her."

Feeling Sweet Pea's only mildly annoyed sigh Lane rolled off him smacking Fangs' arm, which he grabbed and brought her hand to his mouth kissing it. They talked together a little while longer, something soft and warm swelling between them. And they fell asleep each with an arm slung over Lane's waist as she lay curled on her side between them.

.^.

The shop was busy and loud as they shuffled around six cars, and in the midst of it all came a shaggy dog casually making his way to the back office. Tall Boy shook his head and turned back to the diagnostic report he was reviewing. About a minute behind him was an out of breath Jughead, and Tall Boy jerked his head in the direction the dog went.

Jughead found him tail wagging as Lane knelt in front of him scratching behind his ears. "Oh thank god," he sighed and cursed the dog in his head. "I was walking him, I'm not sure how he got loose." In his hand he held the leash, it was as if the clasp hadn't hooked all the way around the loop on his collar except for the fact that Jughead knew it had.

With a faint grin Lane whispered, "naughty boy." That seemed to amuse him.

Jughead watched her pat his head one last time before she stood looking at him curiously. "I actually wanted to talk to you, if you've got a minute," he said, seeing her nod. "I overheard Sweet Pea and Fangs still talking about bombing the Register. I was hoping you could get them to hold off, at least until I'm through initiation and can convince them," he assured her. "They seem to listen to you."

"It's not my call," she told him with an uncaring shrug as she sat behind her desk.

He shook his head not believing she wasn't at least considering the ramifications. "You're not from here, why do you care?"

"I don't," was her simple answer. "I care about Fangs and Sweet Pea."

"Then you can't do this," he said stepping closer. And he looked down at Hot Dog who suddenly stood between them, as though guarding her. Shaking his head he turned back to Lane. "It would cause an all out war between the North and South sides. The Sheriff's office would be looking to round up every Serpent, Fangs and Sweet Pea included. So if you care about them, you cannot let them go through with this." From the unhappy way she looked at him Jughead was hopeful he'd said the right thing to convince her.

But from the doorway came a rough, "hey," and they both turned to see Sweet Pea glaring at Jughead.

So he stepped back, giving Lane one last long look, before he patted his leg turning to the dog. "Come on," he beckoned Hot Dog, who wouldn't move.

He turned his shaggy head to Lane and she nodded, and his head drooped a little as though to sigh as he followed Jughead out of the office. Sweet Pea glared down at Jughead as he left, and after he had Sweet Pea stepped into the office and made his way to Lane. "He try to talk you out of it?" he asked, his voice hardened and his hands fisted. She didn't look at him let alone answer and it had Sweet Pea shaking his head. "It worked, didn't it?"

"He made a valid point," was her quiet answer. She wasn't wearing the gloves and she could feel the anger coming off him, she still wouldn't look at him.

So he got a hand under her chin turning her to face him. "Jughead might be a Serpent by blood but he's never been one of us, he doesn't get it and he sure as hell doesn't speak for us."

"It wasn't about that."

His brows drew together. "Then what was it?"

Pulling his hand off her and dropping it like it burned she fixed him with an unrelenting stare. "I've lost as many people as I'm willing to, that now includes you and Fangs," she told him firmly. "It's nonnegotiable." And with that she stood snatching the clipboard off her desk and making her way to the back so she could take inventory.

She irritably flipped the first page and clicked her pen, still finding herself riled up and she couldn't figure out why. At his soft touch she stilled feeling his hand on her shoulder, and he bent pressing a soft kiss to the back of her head. "Alright," he relented. "You win."

He'd thought it over, considered the risk, and decided it was too small of an action to be worth it. She was what finally made him listen. And she looked at him out of the corner of her eye and told him, "you're a pain in the ass."

She jumped at his hand smacking her backside and turned on him only partially outraged. "You know it," he agreed, his mouth curling in a suggestive smirk. "You could barely sit on my bike this morning." He laughed at how quick she was to smack him and he grabbed the arm she raised holding it to his chest as he backed her against a shelf, the tip of his nose brushing her forehead as he looked down at her, feeling her breathing deepen.

"What'd I miss?"

They both turned to where Fangs stood in the door and Sweet Pea made a sweeping motion with his arm letting Lane take the lead. With a hard look aimed at Sweet Pea she turned to the other boy and told him bluntly, "we're not blowing up the Register."

Considering that a moment Fangs nodded, having already thought it through and arrived at the same conclusion Sweet Pea finally had. "Yeah, I kind of figured," he said having put two and two together, Jughead talking to Lane then Sweet Pea's rash anger.

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes at how quickly he caved, but an unusually soft smile graced Lane's even softer face as she looked at Fangs. "I knew I liked you first for a reason." They shared a warm look before she slipped her hand from Sweet Pea's grasp and smacked him again. "Pain in the ass," she reiterated, poking him in the chest as she moved around him to continue doing inventory. He surprised her again, his palm landing a particularly stinging blow that had her gasping quietly as she whirled on him hitting him with the clipboard as he went.

…

Lane sat alone on the couch in Tall Boy's trailer doing homework. She'd been informed that the Whyte Wyrm was off limits until Jughead's initiation was complete, which she supposed was fine, but then Sweet Pea not so quietly suggested she wait for them in Fangs' trailer and Tall Boy shut that down quickly saying when he got home he'd check on her every five minutes til she was snoring to which Fangs replied with a sweet naiveté that Lane didn't snore and Tall Boy had all but grabbed both boys by the throat and dragged them away from her. And so she sat alone, in Tall Boy's trailer, doing homework.

With a dramatic sigh she tossed one textbook on the table and grabbed another, hearing a trashcan topple over outside but not really paying it much. There was near constant sound coming from somewhere in the trailer, she quickly learned to tune it out. But a loud bang on the window in the bedroom got her attention and she shot up staring at the dark backroom with bated breath. There was the faintest whisper of the window sliding open and her heart jumped in her throat as she moved to the center of the trailer, where she had the option to throw the cast iron or run out the door. There was another bang, this time within the trailer as something fell inside it. Raising a finger the light in the room glowed bright and Lane sucked in a breath at the sight of the long sinewy black figure.

At the sight of her wide green eyes it shrunk back out of sight, and she moved forward to stand at the far edge of the doorway nearly hidden behind it as she peeked into the room. And it stood against the wall peering down at her with pale glowing eyes. "Hi," she greeted softly.

It blinked down at her as though surprised. "You're not afraid of me?"

"I had a feeling," Lane answered with a small smile. It knew her, that she'd known the moment she first touched him, and its eyes narrowed slightly at the corners as though it too were smiling. She watched it pull tighter within itself as it shifted to a more familiar form, and Lane found herself looking down at a shaggy gray and white dog the Serpents called Hot Dog. "I've got to find a new name for you," she said reaching a hand to scratch his head. In doing so she caught a whiff of him and scrunched her nose. "First things first," she said moving to the shower and turning it on.

But he sat himself down refusing and she cocked a brow, he still didn't move. With an irritable huff she pulled her clothes off and pulled the door open beckoning him inside, and his head drooped sadly before he slowly shuffled his way into the shower with her.

…

It was late when Tall Boy got back, Jughead having successfully completed both second and third trials. The TV was off but the light in the room was on, it was unusual to not find her on the couch because she could barely sleep when he was there. But he quietly made his way to the back and found her curled on her side fast asleep with Hot Dog close beside her.

Tall Boy shook his head with a sigh. The second Hot Dog had disappeared then this one turned up less than a week before Lane came to town, and that wasn't coincidence. He moved to the side of the bed picking up the book she'd fallen asleep reading and set it on the dresser saving her page. Then he turned back to her sleeping face tracing her achingly familiar features, and he reached a hand to brush her hair back. Before he could touch her a low thick growl sounded and he looked to where Hot Dog had lifted his head from Lane's hip and was staring at him with gleaming eyes.

When he didn't move away the shaggy fur seemed to melt into its skin that darkened and then glowed a deep red through its ribs as though there were a fire in his belly. Standing over Lane it was nearly as long as the bed and it had a snout that resembled more a bear as it held its toothy mouth open to snarl – like a hound of hell.

"You made your point," Tall Boy said stepping towards the door, away from the girl still asleep on the bed. And as he reached a hand for the light switch he looked over his shoulder seeing Hot Dog with his shaggy fur settling once more against her.

.^.

Lane walked through the halls of Southside High with her bag slung on her shoulder as she rifled through her notes preparing for the test next period. Glancing up she saw Sweet Pea and Fangs at the other end of the hall and she wove her way between the mass of bodies to get to them. But the front doors slammed open and uniformed men charged in grabbing students left and right and Lane stopped in her tracks trying to figure her next move. She couldn't get either boy without exposing herself to everyone, Sheriff's office included, and they were too far away to run and an officer had already thrown Sweet Pea against the locker.

Reaching a decision Lane dropped her bag and turned on her heel marching for the back exit, and the door flung open crashing against the brick wall without her touching it. She stalked across the field her face a picture of fury and beside her Hot Dog fell into place beside her, having followed her to school and had been waiting outside.

There was a flurry of movement beside him and Tall Boy looked up from the engine he was working on to see a very irritable Lane. "What happened?"

He was seething by the time she finished, scrubbing viciously at the grime on his hands before he threw the towel aside. This could go a lot of ways for the Serpents but not many of them were well. When he'd calmed down enough to start formulating a plan, or rather reframing a plan he'd already been working on to fit this, he turned back to Lane to find her waiting patiently.

"Go home," he told her, seeing her immediate refusal. "I know they're your boys but this goes a lot deeper than you know. I'll handle it, you go home and wait for me."

She wasn't happy with the plan or how useless she was in it, but she had very few options given she had no idea why they'd been arrested or even where they were. So she did as told and she went home. But come nightfall when Jughead stormed into his trailer after meeting with the Ghoulies and Tall Boy he stopped short at finding Lane sitting on the couch with Hot Dog at her feet. "How'd you get in here?" he asked her.

"I opened the door," she answered in a dry clipped tone. "What happened?"

She wasn't who he wanted, he wanted Toni because she'd know what to do or at least she'd make him feel like he knew what to do, or hell even Sweet Pea because he at least was a Serpent. But Lane, he didn't know her and what little he knew of her he didn't really like. "Look, I know you're close with Fangs and Sweet Pea but this doesn't really involve you," he said trying to turn her away as politely as he could considering how infuriated he was.

Losing the little patience she had Lane stood tearing a glove off and grabbed his hand: the Serpents were currently being held for possible drug paraphernalia that the Ghoulies were responsible for, and Tall Boy wanted to align the Serpents with the Ghoulies and that was apparently betrayal. "Son of a bitch," Lane muttered realizing this was Tall Boy's way of 'handling' it.  
Jughead watched her with deeply furrowed brows as she shoved his hand away from her, wondering what the hell that was all about. She ran a hand through her hair considering that and their options and when she'd reached a decision she turned back to a curiously cautious Jughead. "You and Archie deal with Tall Boy and the Ghoulies and I'll get our guys out." He sputtered trying to figure out how she knew about any of that, but as she reached the door she turned back to him. "Excuse me, I'll get _your_ guys out since I'm not really involved in this." Giving him a scathing look she walked outside throwing the door shut behind her.

She was on the couch when Tall Boy got back and he looked to her briefly before turning away. "So what's going on?" she asked, giving him a chance.

There would be no lying to her and there was so much of this she didn't understand, that she wouldn't understand because her point of view was shaped young Serpents who didn't know better. "Unless Jughead pulls through not much."

It wasn't exactly what she expected, and in fact she didn't know what she did expect, but it was close to the truth and that meant something. He sat beside her on the couch nursing a beer and his throbbing head, but he reached a hand to her knee squeezing it gently.

She figured it was better to go around dawn, when there was only one deputy working, when Tall Boy was still asleep and couldn't try to stop her. Grabbing the keys to his truck she snuck out of the window Hot Dog had used to sneak in several nights ago and the two stole away in the still dark morning heading to the Sheriff's office.

As she'd known there was only one officer at the front desk when she breezed in, and he looked up tiredly and found himself frozen in place when he met her dark eyes. "You've got something I want," Lane told him as she leaned against his desk. "And you're gonna give it me." He swallowed feeling his mouth grow dry as her gaze fell to his half full coffee mug, and a devilish grin curled on her mouth.

…

Sweet Pea and Fangs moved past the dazed young deputy that stood at the cell door. "You're free to go," he told the Serpents who walked around him too cautious to hope.

The group left holding and made their way to the front and they stopped at the sight of their strange girl leaning against the desk with Hot Dog sitting at her feet. She looked up at Sweet Pea and Fangs with a faint smile and told them softly, "hello boys."

A mirrored grin spread over their mouths at the sight of her and they turned to each other sharing a too warm look. An hour later they were left with the echo of what they'd done to each other as they caught their breath, Lane lay sprawled on top of Sweet Pea's chest with Fangs collapsed over her back and Sweet Pea lay under them holding them both. "Now that is a welcome home," Sweet Pea said out of breath.

"You weren't even gone a day," Lane mumbled too tired to add any bite.

With his mouth against her neck Fangs told her, "close enough."

They stayed that way, warm and content, but eventually Lane pushed Fangs off of her and climbed off of Sweet Pea heading for the shower. They weren't far behind and afterwards they sat at the table eating cereal as they talked amicably together, it was a good morning.

When the time came to leave Lane stood away from them wearing one of their shirts that fell too low on her chest. "I'll be at home," she told them.

"Too good for a street race?" Sweet Pea challenged.

She cocked a brow. "I come from curses and blood sacrifices," she told him, the things she'd use to control the Ghoulies, "so yes, I am too good for a street race."

A wry smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he shook his head, because he had to give her that. But beside him Fangs piped in with, "someone should stay with her, you know just in case."

"See what you did," Sweet Pea said turning hard eyes on Lane, "you're rubbing off on him."

Lane looked up at him smirking. "One down, one to go," she told him, reaching a hand to pat his chest as Fangs threw an arm around her shoulders. As they walked away she looked over her shoulder at Sweet Pea to see him where they'd left him, and she didn't have to touch him to know he wanted to stay.

They'd spent most of yesterday and all of last night sitting against a cold wall in a cell, Fangs almost sighed relieved as he lay on the couch stretched over Lane's lap with his head on her chest and her hand in his hair. He fell asleep within minutes and he dreamed of kind things that felt like her, and Sweet Pea, it felt like home if home meant being cared for. And she pulled him closer, held him tighter, as though she could absorb him through her skin.

The door was thrown open startling the two teens and the dog lying at their feet, and they all turned to see Sweet Pea who was caught between rage and worry. And behind him came Jughead who wore a similar expression though his was laced with question.

"What happened?" Fangs asked climbing off of Lane.

Sweet Pea looked from Lane to Jughead, whose eyes were on Lane not knowing why Sweet Pea brought him here. "Tell her," he demanded harsher than he meant, but his hands wouldn't let go of the fists they were curled into. "Tell her what your boy did."

"He called the cops to get Malachai arrested," Jughead told them, looking more to Fangs who gave a short outraged exclamation.

But Lane was looking at Sweet Pea reading his volatile expression. "You're worried the Ghoulies will retaliate."

"And cause world war three," Jughead replied, realizing she knew more than he thought. "We're outnumbered and they're gonna be looking for payback, we need a way to call them off. At least temporarily." That still didn't answer why Sweet Pea brought him here, to her. She was weird, but weird wasn't gonna help them.

But still Lane's eyes were on Sweet Pea, seeming to have an entire conversation within that long look. She knew what he wanted and she knew she could get them what they needed. "If I do this there's no going back. Are you okay with that?" she asked, needing him to be absolutely sure before they opened this can of worms.

And Sweet Pea thought about it, had been thinking about it as he drove over here. She was their best option, their only option at the moment, and they could figure out the rest later when things were calmer. "Yeah," he told her without an ounce of doubt.

They both turned to Fangs, who was less sure because he knew this meant Lane would be their first thought to solve every problem. Saying yes meant throwing her in with the Serpents, and he knew she might be able to get back out. He touched her hand letting her feel this, and he nodded. "If you're sure."

She squeezed his hand in answer and dropped it turning to Jughead. And she told him in a very simple matter of fact tone, "I'm a witch. A full-bloodied, spell casting, potion brewing, witch," not giving Jughead a chance to move past the initial surprise she turned to Sweet Pea informing him very seriously, "and I need a Ghoulie to possess." And without explaining anything further she walked out the door.

* * *

 _I'm sure this is the last thing on anyone's mind after leaving it hanging like that, but I was thinking of having Lane calling Hot Dog something else (because I don't like Hot Dog), it's something only she would call him. And I was wondering what you guys thought. I could keep it hot dog themed, call him Mayer (for Oscar Mayer) or Sabrett (another brand) - or I could be very unoriginal and call him Cabra, since I made him a mix between hellhound and Chupacabra (loosely but that's another shoutout to Lane being Mexican). Or if anyone has any other ideas, I'm all ears and would be very grateful._


	5. Chapter 5

Jughead drove them into Ghoulie territory in his father's truck. It was a sudden shift from the Serpent's tagged, well worn, trashed part of the Southside into boarded up windows and weathered empty looking buildings. It looked like a ghost town.

Sweet Pea and Fangs sat in the truck bed drawing together as they tensed, waiting for Ghoulies to crawl out of their holes and surround them. They suddenly felt foolish for not bringing weapons besides the knives in their pockets, trusting such a small girl could be of any help.

Out of the shadows bodies began taking form and Jughead slowed at Lane's quiet order, his heart hammering in his chest as his blood ran cold. The two in the back waited with bated breath as five boys emerged in front of where they were stopped.

"What do we have here," a Ghoulie called squinting past the headlights to see enough of who was inside the truck, "looks like some snakes wandered into our den. They must not know we're looking for their blood."

The passenger's side door opened and Sweet Pea's grip on the edge of the truck tightened. "Get back in the truck," he hissed low enough only she'd hear. She didn't and he growled as he jumped down behind her, feeling Fangs try to grab him. There were only five, it was possible between Jughead Fangs and him they could take them and walk away; even if they couldn't he at this point was invested enough he was ready to go down for her, or at least grab her and throw her in the truck.

The Ghoulie that stood at the forefront of this little group paused at the sight of Lane, only recognizing she was pretty. "Hell boys, guess the Serpents brought us a peace offering. Not sure there's enough of her to go around."

Behind her Sweet Pea seethed, but Lane pulled the glove off her right hand standing steady and calm. She raised her hand with her palm up catching a boy in each splayed finger, and they jerked into a straight upright position feeling like a string attached to them was being pulled taut from above. With a flick of her wrist she dropped her hand with her fingers hooked like claws and they dropped to the ground like dead weight.

"Holy shit," Jughead breathed his eyes wide and his mouth open. He turned to where Sweet Pea stood by her open door and asked, "did you know she could do that?"

Sweet Pea's face was slackened with the same awed shock, having at some point convinced his cynical self that she wasn't really that strong. "No," was all he could say as he watched her.

Fangs stood in the bed of the truck with a funny little grin while she stood over each boy and touched the tops of their heads, barely hearing their screams muffled behind mouths they couldn't open.

She felt something in one of them, an arrogance and self importance that came with a position of power. With a finger under his chin she raised his face to her seeing a burning hatred in his eyes in place of fear, and a smirk curled one half of her mouth. He'd be fun. "Dormir," she said his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell limp. She turned back to where Sweet Pea stood gaping at her and she looked from him to an incredibly proud Fangs. "This one."

Fangs jumped out of the trunk and he and Sweet Pea grabbed the guy she'd knocked out and threw him onto the bed before climbing up beside him. Lane finished whispering words to the four others to steal their memory of this before she once more sat beside Jughead and they drove back to their side of town.

The whole way Jughead asked question after question, mostly repeating the same one in a different way to confirm to himself whether what he'd just seen was real. When they were almost at the trailer park and he'd asked that question for the sixth time Lane turned to him with heavy eyes. "I've got more to do than answer you, what do you want me to say to get them to back off?"

He was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around her, but this was a direction he understood and he followed it. "They're never gonna back down completely, we just need to buy more time," he said more to himself as he thought it through. "Tell them you spoke to Malachai, that he said he wants his share of Serpent blood. They might believe that enough to not attack us without him." It wasn't perfect and they'd still have to deal with the Ghoulies, but it might be enough for now.

They pulled up to Jughead's trailer and she hopped out and walked away. Jughead climbed out watching her, wondering what she was doing, but behind him he heard Sweet Pea and Fangs dragging the unconscious Ghoulie out of the truck. They carried him into the trailer and threw him on a chair where his head hung forward as he began tipping, Fangs pushed him back so he wouldn't fall.

Less than a minute and Lane opened the door with the box stored under her arm and Hot Dog at her feet. Not looking at the Ghoulie with his head fallen back as he snored lightly she set the box on the counter and flipped it open. Jughead stood back watching her trail a thin finger down the page as though she were reading a list, all he saw was blank paper.

"It's charmed," Fangs said when he noticed Jughead watching her curiously. "If you're not from her family's bloodline it won't show you anything. Unless she shows you."

Jughead nodded like that made sense, like any of this made sense. But Sweet Pea, who stood by the Ghoulie, crossed his arms fixing Fangs with a heavy look. "Really?"

Fangs shrugged amicably. "You know, we dated for a month before we brought you in," he reminded Sweet Pea. He'd gotten his fill of Lane's magic, Sweet Pea was easily impressed with her snapping on a light before he led them to bed because he liked them too much to think of anything else.

"So," Jughead drew that word out as he looked from the girl who was pulling out various things from the box to the two boys, "the three of you are dating?"

"Something you wanna say?"

At Sweet Pea's gruff demand Jughead quickly shook his head, his eyes once more on Lane because her back was to him and she wasn't glaring let alone paying attention. "Nope, it's just you guys make a lot of sense now." He'd always known she was with one of them, he thought Fangs at first but then he'd seen her with Sweet Pea, then he'd seen Sweet Pea and Fangs together, and he couldn't settle on anything – until now. "What the hell?" he breathed watching Lane reach into the box shoulder deep and pull out an honest to god cauldron. And it was almost the size of the box she'd pulled it out of.

She then snapped her fingers and a fire lit beneath the handcrafted bowl. Jughead crouched down to see a small fire just on the counter, because why not, and then still without paying him any attention she moved around him to the Ghoulie and plucked a hair out of his head before dropping it into the bowl.

Fangs watched nodding appreciatively, but Sweet Pea crept closer to Lane as she began adding the ingredients she'd collected from inside the box. He looked inside seeing four sides and a bottom, a normal wooden box, then his gaze fell to the hand she offered him. Meeting her warm pale eyes he gently took her smaller hand in his, finding as always when he was this close to her he just wanted to kiss her, but he forced his stare off of her and his face slackened in amazement. Within the four walls an entire room seemed to be contained full of shelves with various vials and jars and other things too small to make out. Then something fluttered and he looked to see a little woman made of paper peeking out from behind one of the shelves.

Lane was once more focused on the potion as she stirred the appropriate direction the indicated amount of times before adding a strand of her own hair. Without looking at Sweet Pea she told him, "she'll cut your hand to ribbons if you reach inside."

He lowered his hand and stepped back letting her work and looked to Fangs. "Yeah, she gives a nasty paper cut," Fangs told him agreeing.

Reaching the end of the instructions Lane peered inside the cauldron with nothing more than the hope she'd done it right before she ladled the bubbling sickly green liquid into a cup. She grabbed the black stone bowl and returned it to the box, reaching far inside so that her shoulder brushed the edge as she set it on the floor. Then she replaced the false bottom and set the box inside before shutting and locking it; mostly because of Jughead, not that she thought either Fangs or Sweet Pea would let him anywhere near it.

The three boys stood back watching her move to stand in front of the still unconscious Ghoulie and she grabbed his chin forcing his mouth open before pouring the potion down his throat. With the glass empty she handed it to Fangs and stepped back waiting. "What happens now?" Jughead asked after a moment of nothing.

Lane looked at the older boy slumped in the chair not feeling any different, he didn't look any different, so far nothing was happening. "No idea," she answered with a simple honesty.

That wasn't what he expected and he was starting to realize she didn't really know what she was doing, and after a couple minutes Jughead started wondering if maybe he'd imagined seeing anything, if they were all crazy and he was too. But Lane's eyes glazed and a breath passed from her slackened lips before her lifeless body fell to the ground.

"Lane," Sweet Pea called dropping to his knees and getting a hand on either side of her cold face, feeling Fangs kneeling beside him. Her empty white eyes stared blankly, her chest still as death. The two shared a worried look.

Behind them the man suddenly heaved and they both jumped up whirling around, Sweet Pea pulling out his switchblade, and Jughead reaching for a knife on the counter. But Fangs looked at the Ghoulie blinking up at them seeing his once cold blue eyes were now a lovely shade of green. "Lane?"

She reached a hand to her aching head shaking out the weirdness of being in another body, of the faintly itchy beard, of something hanging between her legs. She was aware of Fangs setting a hand on her shoulder, of how quiet her mind was because she couldn't feel his thoughts – she thought she'd like that, but she felt blind. "Yeah yeah, this is gonna wear off I've got things to do," she said waving him away as she climbed unsteadily to her feet.

"That's our girl," Fangs said with a half amused smile, the other half was bewildered.

Lane reached a hand to brush her hair back out of habit but instead her palm grazed a shaved head and she sighed uncomfortably tugging at the front of her jeans. "Alright," she said turning to the three wide eyed boys. "I'm gonna get this done," she looked to Hot Dog and pointed at herself, "stay with my body. I'll be back when I'm back."

She didn't wait for them to respond and the door to Jughead's trailer slammed shut after her. "What now?" Jughead asked looking from Lane's body to Sweet Pea and Fangs, both of who kept glancing down at where she lay.

Sweet Pea turned to Fangs who shrugged not knowing anymore than he did. "We wait I guess," Fangs told them.

"Should we move her?" asked Jughead, still failing to wrap his head around any of this. But there was no way to convince himself he was imaging it this time, he'd seen too much.

"No," both Sweet Pea and Fangs answered. She didn't tell them to and they knew enough not to mess with anything unless she said they could.

So they waited. They tried watching TV but no one could focus, Jughead was very aware Sweet Pea still didn't like him and Fangs was a newer Serpent himself who didn't really know better than to side with his friend so there wasn't much talking. It felt like forever as the night grew darker and the hour later with no sign nor sound coming from the empty corpse lying on the floor a few feet away from them.

Until Hot Dog started pacing back and forth near her which set Fangs and Sweet Pea on edge, which in turn set Jughead on edge, and the three watched the dog grow more agitated as he began whining. Suddenly her back arched as though she'd been electrocuted and Fangs and Sweet Pea were on their feet rushing to either side of her looking down at her wide eyes.

She looked to be in pain, her jaw clenched tight, her body stiff as a board. "Lane?" Fangs asked bringing a hand to her icy cheek.

"What do we do?" Sweet Pea asked desperate for something, anything, to make this better.

"I don't know." Lane didn't tell them what to do if something went wrong, if they even could do anything. But it looked like she was in agony staring blankly at the ceiling above, her chest still, tears leaking from the corners of her nonblinking eyes.

Beside them Hot Dog barked loudly and Fangs tried to shoo him away, unable to think from how loud he was. The dog seemed to burst outward, the fur shrinking as its features grew into something thin and darkly humanoid. With long-fingered hands it shoved the boys away from its witch and slammed them on the floor on either side of her head leaning over her and shouted, "breathe!"

Her chest finally expanded and she sucked in the air she'd been desperately aching for. She found herself staring up at a pair of familiar pale eyes framed by a long alien face, and she exhaled heavily as a sense of safety warmed the parts of her body that'd grown cold in the hours she'd been gone.

With their backs pressed against the wall both boys gaped as that thing shrunk back into Hot Dog. "What the hell is that?" Fangs exclaimed in a too loud voice.

Jughead stood by the couch having observed quietly, feeling his concern dissipate as Lane's breathing evened and the color returned to her skin. This whole night had been one big shock, this wasn't that much more surprising than anything else he'd seen and it allowed him to roll with it the way Fangs and Sweet Pea were having a hard time. "Her familiar, I assume," he said, knowing enough about witches. Only now he knew they were real.

Her lungs quivered trying to work and she coughed rolling onto her side. "That was the worst," she groaned, feeling like this was the hangover after drinking an entire liquor store.

"Did it work? Are we good?" Jughead asked, needing to know if they were about to go to war.

"Yeah," Lane said grabbing onto the counter climbing awkwardly to her feet. "They were easier to convince than I thought they'd be. And then this guy's girl wanted to have sex so I did her and then she told me she was pregnant and she wasn't sure if it was mine, or I guess his, and she cried _a lot_." Lane reached a hand to her head that ached like it'd been split open, feeling Sweet Pea's hand on her back as he helped steady her. "It was a weird night, I'm gonna lay down.

With a hand still on the counter using it as a crutch she walked towards the bedroom on stiff legs, Hot Dog sticking close to her side. It left the three boys looking after her feeling as useless as they had all evening, but Sweet Pea and Fangs got up and followed her. Fangs clapped a tiredly relieved Jughead on the shoulder as he passed him saying, "hell of a night, huh Jones."

Jughead could only shake his head because this night had him questioning everything that was real. With a sigh he slumped back on the couch wondering what this meant, what they'd do from here, what he'd do from here because he still had to worry about his dad's trial. Shuffling his way to the room he paused in the doorway looking at where Lane lay with her face buried in Hot Dog's fur and Fangs pressed against her back holding her, and behind him was Sweet Pea who had a long arm stretched over them both. And Jughead sighed heavily before he returned to the couch.

…

The four teens stood in the overcrowded kitchen: Lane was making breakfast, Jughead had questions, Sweet Pea had his arms crossed glaring at Jughead daring him to speak, and Fangs was feeding Hot Dog bits of bacon he stole trying to convince him to talk. Jughead opened his mouth but Sweet Pea beat him to it. "There something you wanna say?"

His mouth closed seeing he'd have to wait until Sweet Pea, and maybe Fangs, wasn't around her – which seemed impossible because they were never far from her side. But Lane set down the spatula she was using to flip the pancakes and turned around having had it with the tense atmosphere between them. "We're gonna go on a walk," she declared in a stern voice that didn't offer refusal as she looked up at Sweet Pea's dark eyes. "You're gonna finish breakfast."

She shooed Jughead out of his trailer and held the door open long enough for Hot Dog to follow before she closed it after them. They left the trailer park, where there were more ears to overhear, and walked side by side on the sidewalk in that bitterly cold morning. "What have you figured out so far?" Lane asked him, wondering how much she'd need to tell him and whether she should.

He'd thought about before falling asleep and he'd been thinking about it since he woke up. "You're obviously here for a reason, and it feels like you're hiding which would mean keeping your head down."

She nodded pleased with his ability to think for himself, for not assuming she was obligated to him. "Something's after me, not sure what, and so far it doesn't seem like it knows I'm here." And she very much wanted to keep it that way.

"The more you do, the bigger scene you make, the easier it'd be to find you," Jughead said, the conclusion he'd come to on his own, and he didn't need to see her nod to know it was true. "I can't say the thought of having a witch on our side wouldn't make everything easier, but I get it. You can't be our first resort." The Serpents were protecting her, he was a Serpent now which meant he was protecting her too. She needed them, but she'd made it clear she was willing to help when they needed her and that kind of loyalty meant something.

Lane was mildly impressed, she hadn't really needed to say anything he arrived here all on his own. Which meant she was right in not taking his memories, he could be useful. "I'm glad you see it my way. It's not as much fun but it's easier if I don't have to make you."

He stopped at that and stared at her back curiously. "You can make people do what you want them to?" he asked wondering exactly what all she could do. Wondering exactly how useful she was, and how many favors she'd let him ask.

There was a gleam in her pale eyes as she turned to him seeing his face slacken as he got caught in her gaze, feeling his will bend. She stepped closer languidly like a cat stalking its prey. "I can make you do anything I want. I can strip you of every ounce of free will until you're only able to do what I say. And you won't even realize it."

With slow even breaths he stared at her eyes, they seemed to grow larger and he felt himself fall into them, so deep he saw stars. And all he could do was blink, letting her consume him. Until all at once his mind slammed back into motion and he was once more standing on the sidewalk with her not even a foot in front of him. "That was a neat trick," he said trying to shake himself from that strange daze. "But nothing happened." All he'd done was stand there looking at her, and he jogged himself out of it so she couldn't be that strong.

A car drove past and an outraged woman honked angrily. With furrowed brows Jughead turned from the car and looked at Lane seeing her grinning devilishly at him. "And you won't even realize it," she said again, watching him look down at himself to finally realize he was naked. "Put your clothes back on and keep up."

She turned leaving him to scramble to dress himself as she headed back to the trailer, and she looked down at Hot Dog to see his eyes dancing with the same amusement that shone in hers.

* * *

 _A couple things. The first is I don't know how clear I made it, and I tried to show it rather than just come out and say it. But when Lane was out of her body for those few hours rigor mortis was setting in, and that's why it was so hard for her to come back._

 _And second, the reason this chapter's short is because I haven't finished Chilling Adventures of Sabrina yet, but I had an idea that would cross Lane into that show next chapter. But only for one scene (it would include a past love of Lane's[he is an existing character in Sabrina, or he was (hint hint)], as well as a hint to how this season will end for Lane). So I'm gonna finish that show before I do next chapter.  
Because, I believe Sabrina is taking place during the time season 1 and 2 of Riverdale did – and since I'm in November now it means Sabrina is currently happening while Lane is out of town. So I'm going to finish the show this week to see if my idea even works. Anyways, thank you for your patience, and I hope you still enjoyed this chapter even though it was short. _


	6. Update - ending this story

Hey guys, long time no see. (I'm really sorry about that) Now that I've caught my other two stories up I'm coming back to this one and I am considering re-writing it completely. The reason for that is because I've lost almost all interest in Riverdale, so writing within that show is becoming a chore and I'm not enjoying it. So I'd love to get Lane out of it for this one and have it follow Chilling Adventures more. With the fun bonus of crossing over into Riverdale territory a few times (because I still love Fangs and Sweet Pea, just not season 3 Sweet Pea). I wanted to let you guys know what I was planning and see if anyone would even be interested.

The new story would follow the same premises in that something is after her, it's just going to unfold very differently in Greendale. This would be a different Lane than the one I've written so far (the basis of her character is the same Lane we all know and sort of love), her name is Samara Spellman. Yeah, Spellman. I normally hate when stories tack on an OC into the main family, but I kind of like the parallel of how involved in the human world the Spellman's are. And we all know Lane/Samara likes her humans. So maybe it fits, I hope so. But I can't wait to have her and Ambrose interacting, they're gonna be fun.

But Samara is more of a witch, so she does more magic than Lane in this story did. I'll actually go into her joining the Church of Night, how the weird sisters feel about her – because of her spanish roots she's considered a blood witch so not many like her. So I'm excited for that dynamic, of her magic being a little different.

Also, I guess witches are either celibate or polygamous with no in between. So Samara's going to have a few different relationships that will all be different for her. Obviously there's Sweet Pea and Fangs (which I might end up just doing Sweet Pea to simplify it for myself), I adored Tommy Kinkle so he's gonna be one and yes they are going to be soft and adorable, and then there's one more that I'm not quite sure of yet that I'd love you guys' opinion on (if you care)

My first thought was Prudence, because she has my whole heart I thought she was amazing. And these two girls would be something together. It would be a slow burn, emphasis on the SLOW, with a lot of sexual tension.  
But then I see Agatha and I think she's the most beautiful cast member and I can never get her out of my head. It'd be a very similar dynamic to Samara and Prudence – but with Agatha it wouldn't be as slow. But I was hesitant to do both because I feel like the relationships Samara has with them would be too similar and I wanted to try my hand at building as different relationships as possible. Which is why I opted with one. So my question is, does one strike you more than the other?

Also I would love any feedback you guys have if you have any, if you completely hate the idea, if you'd like to see anything in the story, if you want anymore details that I haven't given. I'm always open for suggestions.

Or, if you just want to know the ending I had planned for Witchcraft on Her Lips, you can always message me and I can outline it (I can't respond to guest reviewers though)  
I'm currently working on the first chapter to the new story, I'm considering calling it Black Magic Woman because I love the song. So if you are interested be on the lookout for that, when I have it up I'll probably do another update to this story to let you guys know – and then I'll delete this story.

If you got all the way to the end here, thank you so much for reading, happy new year, and I hope to see you in the rewritten story.


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